Unconditionally
by slayingsnitch
Summary: I am Katniss Everdeen . I am all alone, living in the woods and surviving off the bare minimum. I can't trust anyone especially when Peeta enters my life. He can't know i'm homeless and dying. He can't know about my past and everything that has happened. It can never happen. But can it? I am Katniss Everdeen and this is my story.
1. Chapter 1

Unconditionally

Unconditional, unconditionally

I will love you unconditionally

There is no fear now

Let go and just be free

I will love you unconditionally.

CHAPTER 1

My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am 18 years old (nearly 19) and I am homeless. I live in the woods and I have very little money from working at the old drunks bar. My family is gone, I am alone and I have nobody left that loves me. I know I need love but i'm scared, I can't trust anyone and I'm surviving just fine by myself.

The winter cold snow bites at my skin as I shiver and try to cover myself with the ratty old blanket. The sun is nearly fully risen and I know that I'll be able to go into town to get some food. I haven't eaten in nearly four days and my stomach is curling and rumbling painfully. I have saved up just enough money so that I can buy my food with a little money to spare.

Not being able to stand the cold any longer I fold up the thin blanket and place it in the old backpack. I slowly climb down the tree I have made my home. And then struggle to walk through the snow along the unmade path I have taken so many times when I leave the woods. After about 20 minutes I finally make it to the edge where the trees meet the road. I walk down the road towards town.

I always go to town early so that not many people see me. I can't have anyone know that i'm homeless. I don't want to have to deal with the shame or pity.

I walk into the grocery store and walk down to where I know bread is. Most people buy their bread from the bakery because apparently it's the best bread you will ever get. I know, I can smell the sweet scenes of baking bread and treats every time I walk past the bakery. But I can't afford to go in there. It's too expensive and also I don't want the bakers wife to see me. I can still remember the day 9 years ago when she broke my arm. I never want to see her again.

I pick out a bag which contains four bread rolls. They are the cheapest brand there and probably taste like cardboard but I don't care. Food is food. I walk up to the register and don't look the cashier in the eye as I hand him the bag. I try to hide my dirty hands and am suddenly realizing that I should have washed my clothes and bathed in the lake before coming out. My clothes are covered in dirty stains and my hair probably looks like a birds nest.

I hand the cashier the money and run out of there as fast as I can. Nobody can see me. That is my only thought as I run down the road to the only place where I feel safe. The woods are my safe haven. I sprint through the trees, constantly tripping and slipping on the snow. Once I reach my tree I sit down in the snow at the bottom of it; not even caring that my pants will get wet. I open the bag and pull out one roll.

I remember to eat it slowly as last time I got sick for a week because I ate the food too fast and my stomach wasn't used to that much food. I rip off small chunks of the bread. and eat it as quick as I will allow. Once finished I have to force myself not to eat the other three rolls, I need them to last me. I put the remaining rolls in my bag and then head down to the lake.

I'm lucky it hasn't frozen over yet but I know that I will need to find a new source of water soon since the lake will eventually be nothing but ice.

I dip my hand in the water and immediatly pull it back, hissing as the icy water stings my hand. Slowly I unbraid my hair and then bend over the edge of the lake, dipping just my hair into the water as I try my best to scrub it clean. Once finished I tie it in a messy bun on the top of my head so that it doesn't drip everywhere.

Glancing around to make sure nobody is around, I pull my clothes off and wash them in the water. The icy particles digging into my hands. I lay my clothes on a nearby rock and then close my eyes as I prepare for the worst. I know I shouldn't go in the lake because I will most deffinitly get sick from the cold. But I have to stay clean, I can't stand the stares that people give me.

I try to make it as quick as I can as I wade into the water. Tears spring into my eyes it's that cold but I just keep going as I quickly rub my hands over my arms and legs to remove as much dirt as I can.

As soon as i'm done I race out of the water and pull the thin blanket out of my bag, wrapping it tightly around me as I shiver uncontrollably. My teeth chatter as I pull the blanket tightly around me. I groan at the though of having to wait for my clothes to dry.

I sit shivering on a rock while my clothes dry on the rocks for a hour or two, just waiting for my clothes. Eventually they are dry enough for me to wear as I pull on the old pair of pants and t-shirt with the jumper that has no warmth left in it.

Slowly I walk back to my tree, as I climb up the branches and settle myself down. My stomach grumbling as it wasn't satisfied with one bread roll. And I almost cry when it starts to rain, because I know for sure now im going to get sick. I can't afford to get sick as I have no money. That's how my mother died.

I just need to stay brave and strong. I am a strong girl and I know that I can try and fight off whatever sickness the cold trys to give me. I hope at least. I remember that time last year when I first started living in the woods. It was the middle of winter. My body wasn't used to such harsh conditions and I got deathly sick. So sick I was afraid I would die. But somehow my body started to cope and I pulled through. I just hope this winter I don't get that sick again.


	2. Chapter 2

I wake up the next morning and my throat is feeling scratchy and I mentally groan when realize that I am infact going to get sick. I just hope it's not as sick as last time. I nearly died last time. The snow has settles all over me and I am shivering. I have a shift at Haymitch's bar this morning which is the worst time because no one comes into a bar in the morning so it goes by so slow.

I climb down from my tree and walk out of the woods and along the road that leads to town. I make it and as the sun is barely rising I have plently off time to get into work. With the little amount I get paid its probably not even worth having this job but its my only source of money right now. I just pray its not for the rest of my life.

I walk in and see Haymitch sitting at one of the tables, already surprising drunk, or more likely hung over from yesterday. "Haymitch i'm here" I announce but he just ignores me like always. Somedays i'm lucky and I'll get a grunt in return. I walk behind the bar and then I wait.

I wait for hours for someone to come in but of course nobody does. Who wants to go to a bar this early in the morning. I was excited though because today is pay day. Haymitch always pays me in cash since he knows I don't own a bank account or anything. And it's not even that much money that is worth putting in an account.

The day drags on until eventually it ticks past 4:30pm and thats when the customers start coming in. That is however, the time my shift ends. Haymitch stumbles in from the back and hands me $8 this weeks work and I thank him as I stow the money away in my bag.

I decide I don't want to return to the woods just yet as it's cold and I spent all my time there. I decide to stop by my old school. There are two schools in this city. There was the town school and the seam school. I went to the seam school. I never had any friends and nobody knew I had no family. Usually I wouldn't go out in public like this but there will be nobody at the school since school hours are over.

I walk down to the seam school and walk through the doors, taking in the sight of the empty corridors. There are flyers and everything up all over the walls.

I walk down the corridor, looking at all the flyers and papers. I don't realize i've reached the flight of down stairs until I am tumbling down them. I land in a pile at the bottom with a huff. I groan as I lift myself up, my ankle giving way as I must have twisted it when I fell.

Unexpectedly, I feel two hands slide under my arms and lift me up from the ground. "Are you ok?" A guy asks and I look up to see a man with blond curly hair that sweeps into his eyes. His eyes are a bright azure blue and I managed to catch myself before I was caught staring.

"Yeah i'm fine thanks" I say and I see him smile before I turn around and slowly limp off, my ankle getting better as I walk on it.

"I haven't seen you around before" the man says as he walks to stay with my pace. Why does he want to talk to me? I think to myself.

"I don't get seen in a lot of places" I say not glancing at him.

"Yeah? What are you doing here then?" He ask curiously.!

I huff, "is it really any of your business?" I ask.

He holds his hands up "no not really" he admitts. "I'm here for the teachers meeting. I teach at the town school but they held the meeting at this school for some reason" he says and I glance at him quickly.

"I need to know that why?" I say and he shakes his head.

"I'm just trying to make conversation" he says and I stop walking and turn to face him.

"Trust me. You don't want to talk to me. You don't want to be seen with me" I say and he looks at me confused.

"I'll be the judge of that" he says.

"You only just met me" I point out.

He grins "speaking of that, I didn't get your name" he says and I roll my eyes.

"Too bad you're not going to get my name" I say and his face falls.

"Really?"

"Yeah" I say as I walk off towards the entrance again.

"Well my names Peeta" he calls out and I turn back to look at him one more time before walking out the door. As I walk back to my spot in the woods I can't help but think why he would want to talk to me. Did he not notice my ratty clothes?

And his face looked familiar. I can't place where I know it from but I know that it's going to bother me until I figure out where I know him from. I cough loudly as the cold bites into my skin. Great, i'm getting sick again. Is this going to happen every winter for as long as i'm living out in the woods? I don't know how long that will be. I know I am dying. I know if I continue the way i'm going now then i'm going to die long before i'm supposed to. Far too soon, I mean look at me. I nearly died last winter, and I pray that this isn't going to be another near death experience.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days pass by slowly. I can feel myself slowly getting sick. I also find myself going back to the seam school after hours. Hoping to maybe get a glance at Peeta. I know I shouldn't reveal myself like this. He can't know about me. But I feel a pull towards that school.

I haven't seen him again. That's probably because he told me he worked at the town school. But there was no way i'm going to the town school. That's a risk im not willing to take. The less people that see me the better.

And that's where I am now. Hiding behind a tree out the front of the seam school. Hoping that maybe I might be able to get a glance at Peeta. I've been here everyday since I first saw him. I want nothing to do with him. I don't want to get to know him. I just want another look, I need to know where I have seen him before. It's been annoying me endlessly.

I freeze when I hear the front doors open and I peer around the tree. I sigh when I see it's not Peeta, but a girl and a boy. They look to be around the age of 20 and they are both laughing while their joined hands swing between them.

She has auburn hair and a kind face. She looks quiet compared to her company. He had tousled bronze hair and a giant, goofy smile on his face. They both continue walking in my direction and I realise too late that they are going to see me if I don't move.

The girl catches sight of me just as I am attempting to scramble up from the ground. "Hey" she says, pulling the guy over to me. "What are you doing here?" She asks me in a kind voice and I scowl at her. Why is she talking to me like i'm a three year old?

"That's not any of your business" I say and she frowns.

"What's your name?" She asks and I stare at her confused.

"Why do you want to know?" I ask and she takes another step towards me, her hair flying in the breeze.

"Because you look like you need help" she says carefully and I stand up and take a step away from her.

"I don't need your help" I say and the guy steps forward.

"Hey it's ok. We didn't mean to intrude" the guy says as he wraps his arm around the girls waist.

"Do you want to go out? We can go shopping or something?" The girl asks and I frown at her confused.

"We don't even know each other. Why would you ask me to go shopping?" I say and she shrugs.

"I need some girlfriends. I don't have many. You look like the perfect friend for me." Something tugs inside of me, maybe I do need some friends. Friends could make me feel loved.

But no. I don't want anyone to know where I live. They would try to give me money or something; I don't take charity.

"Maybe someother day" I say and she nods with a smile on her face.

"I'm _Ellen_ " she says and then gestures to the boy by her side "this is my boyfriend Finnick." I nod as I turn around to walk off.

After a few steps I turn back around "my name's Katniss" I say and she smiles widely at me. I turn around and walk back off.

Could I have friends? But what if they ditch me as soon as they find out about my lifestyle? I can't stop all the conflicts from roaming around inside my head. I am so focused on all the thoughts that I don't realised i'm walking straight towards a tree until I have smashed into it. I yelp out in pain as the bark scratches my face and I fall backwards on the ground, hitting my head on the rocks.

I groan as I roll onto my side. That's when I hear the frantic voice. "Are you ok?" The guy asks and I peer up to see blond hair and blue eyes. I feel my face heat up with embarrassment when I realise it's Peeta.

"Yeah i'm fine" I say as I go to stand up but my head spins wildly and I fall backwards. Peeta's arms reach out and he catches me and steadies me. I pull away from his arms quickly, I don't want him to feel my ribs, or how skinny I am from not eating.

"I said i'm fine" I say, tugging on the sleeves of my thin jacket.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" He asks.

I shake my head furiously, "i'm fine. I can walk by myself" I say as I take off down the road. I get about five metres before I realise walking is harder than I thought. The world seems to be spinning as I stumble from side to side.

I hear hurried footsteps rush up to me, "i'm walking you home. That's final" he says and I groan. As I continue to attempt to walk. Peeta grabs onto my wrist and I flinch away but he doesn't let go. "Don't worry" he says, looking into my eyes "I won't hurt you."

Slowly he helps me home, or to where he thinks is my home. I lead him to the main part of the seam and over to one of the nicer looking houses. I stop outside the front gate. "This is me" I say and he nods.

"It's nice" he says looking at the house, "cosy looking.

"Can you leave now?" I ask and he nods.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

I sigh "yes i'm fine, thanks" I say.

He looks at me one more time before saying "can I have your name now?"

I shake my head "i'm not giving you my name" I say and his shoulders slump.

"Ok then, I'll see you around" he says as he turns to walk off. I watch him walk off and once he reaches the end of the street he turns around to look at me. I make a big act of opening the gate and walking up the path to the house.

Once Peeta has turned the corner and is out of sight, I run back out through the gate and back to the woods. I can't help but think how close I was to him finding out about me. I need to be more careful. I need to stay away.

I long and ache for friends and someone to love and love me. I'm so alone but I can't stand the shame. I don't want anyone to know. It has to stay that way. I have to stay away from him. I can do that. Can't I?


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days pass by and I can't help but think I have never felt so lonely in my life. Now that I had met Ellen, Finnick and Peeta I know that there are people that want to be my friends, I just have to let them into my life. And that's the hard part.

Slowly I can feel myself getting more and more sick with the freezing winter weather and the little food I am getting isn't helping. I have been working as many hours as Haymitch can give me and its painful how lonely I am.

I decide to go and see if I can find Ellen. It can't hurt to have one friend right? She shouldn't be able to find out about my home.

I walk from work that day down to the seam school in the hope to see Ellen again. I sit out the front for an hour before I realise that she mustn't work here. I walk slowly back into town. Hoping to maybe buy another jacket, a cheap one if I can find it.

I am walking through the town center when I see Ellen walk out of a shop. I walk quickly over to her, not wanting to call out her name and drag attention to myself. I grab her arm before she can walk off and she turns around and beams when she sees me. "Hey Katniss" she smiles surprised.

"Uh, hi" I say and then think that I should have figured out what to say to her.

Ellen must notice my discomfort because she speaks up for me. "I'm just going to meet Finnick and a friend for coffee. Do you want to come?" She asks and I fidget uncomfortably. I should have known this would be a bad idea.

"Uh no, no thats ok" I whisper and she looks at me sadly. "I just came to get a jacket" I say and she looks around.

"Well I'll come with you, and then you can come to the cafe, it's Finnick's shout because he lost a bet" she says as she grabs my hand and starts to walk off towards a clothes shop. It looks expensive and I pull my hand out of hers.

"If you don't mind, I want to go in there" I say pointing to the second hand store and she looks between the store and me before smiling.

"Ok" she says as she starts walking off in that direction. We walk in and I am immediately hit with the musty smell. I walk over and pick a grey jacket, it's a few sizes too big, but that should make it even warmer. It doesn't have a lot of fluff in it, it's very thin. But at least it doesn't have any holes in it.

I look at the price tag and sigh loudly. It's just in my price range. It will cost all off today's work pay but at least I will have something mildly warmer.

I walk up to the counter and hand over the rest of my money. "Do you mind if I use the bathroom?" I ask and the lady leads me through the back while Ellen waits. I walk in and look in the mirror, it's been so long since i've seen my reflection. My hair is a mess and there is dirt all over my hands and arms. I take my old jacket off and put it in my backpack. Then I turn the tap on and rub the water over my hands, arms and face. I look in the mirror and see I am considerably cleaner.

I rebraid my hair and then pull on my new jacket. It's warmer than the last one but I can still feel the cold through it. I walk back out to Ellen and see that she is still waiting for me. "Are you ready?" She asks and I nod. She grabs my hand again and then pulls me across and down the street. We reach a small cafe which isn't that busy inside. She pulls me inside and scans the room before grinning widely and pulling me over to a table where Finnick and another blond guy sit waiting for us.

"Ah I see you brought company" Finnick says as he stands up to greet Ellen. The blond guy turns around in his seat and I freeze when I see it's Peeta. No, not him. I think to myself as he smiles kindly at me. Ellen sits next to Finnick which leaves me the seat next to Peeta.

"How are you?" Peeta asks and I shrug.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Ellen asks staring between us.

"No"

"yes"

Peeta and I speak at the same time and I glare at him. "I do not know you" I say and he shakes his head.

"We've met" he says to Ellen. "She knows my name but she won't tell me hers" he says sadly and I shoot him a look.

"Why would you need to know my name?" I snap and then Finnick's eyes light up.

"Wait Peeta is this the girl you were talk- OUGH!" He says as Peeta kicks him from under the table and glares at him. Was Peeta talking about me?

"Are we ready to order?" A voice says and I look up to see a cheerful blond girl smiling down at the four of us.

"Yeah give us two cappuccino's a hot chocolate and-" Finnick looks at me, waiting for my answer and I shake my head.

"I'm fine" I say.

"Just get her a hot chocolate" Ellen tells him. The waitress writes that down and then walks back out to the kitchen.

"Annie I said I didn't want anything" I say and she shakes her head.

"I'm not taking no for an answer." I sigh and lean back in my seat, feeling uncomfortable as the other three exchange chatter.

The lady comes back with our drinks and she places a brown drink in front of me. Everyone says thanks and starts to drink theirs. I stare at mine, I don't even know what it is. Did Ellen say hot chocolate?

"Are you going to drink it?" Ellen asks me and I stare at her.

"Um, is it any good?" I ask quietly and they all stare at me.

"Have you never had hot chocolate before?" Finnick asks shocked and I feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

"Um no" I whisper and they all must notice how uncomfortable I am because Peeta speaks up cheerfully.

"Well then you have to try it. It's delicious" and he smiles encouragingly at me. I reach down and pick up the cup, bringing it to my lips and taking a drink. The warm, chocolaty milk runs down my throat and immediately warms my body. I don't think I have ever tasted something any better.

"Its good"mI say to the others who where all still watching me.

Ellen and Finnick go back to talking and Peeta turns to me. "So can I have your name now?" He asks and I shake my head.

"Why do you want it so bad?" I ask and he blushes slightly.

"Because I want to get to know you. And I kinda need your name for that" he says and I roll my eyes.

"Trust me, you do not want to know me" I state as I take another sip of the hot chocolate.

The rest of the afternoon is spent with Ellen and Finnick talking wildly and Peeta and I exchanging a few words every now and again. When the sun is setting I know that I really need to get back to the woods, otherwise I won't be able to find my tree in the dark.

"I need to go" I say as I stand up.

Peeta stands up next to me "i'll walk you out" he says and I shake my head.

"I'm fine Peeta" I say.

"No I insist" he protests and I sigh as I wave goodbye to Ellen and Finnick. I walk out of the cafe and am immediately hit with the cold air. The wind chilling through my skin and making me shiver instantly.

"It's so cold tonight" I say as I pull my jacket around me tighter. I almost forget Peeta is with me until I feel something heavy go around my shoulders. I look up to see Peeta as placed his big, warm jacket on my shoulders. "Peeta I can't take this" I say.

"No you take it for the walk home" he says. "I won't need it, I live just around the corner" he says and I sigh.

"Ok, I'll bring it back to you; I promise" I say as I pull my arms through.

The warmth from the jacket is instantaneous and I sigh from the heat. "Thank you Peeta" I say and he nods once.

"Your welcome" he says kindly and I am about to walk off when I turn back around.

"Katniss. My name is Katniss" I say quietly and I can hear him whisper my name.

"That's a beautiful name" he says and I shrug, "It is, it suits you. Beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He says and with that, his cheeks turn red and he waves one last time before walking back into the cafe.

Did he just call me beautiful? I feel my cheeks heat up and I cant help but smile to myself. I pull Peeta's jacket around me tighter and I can smell his scent on it. The sweet scent of vanilla and dill. I can't help but feel comforted by his scent as I walk home in the near dark. And I can only form one thought in my head the whole night. I can't even tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

He called me beautiful.


	5. Chapter 5

I walk carefully through town. The snow has started to fall again and the wind is swirling the air around rapidly as it chills my body to the bone. I'm wearing Peeta's jacket as I walk to the town school. So far I have avoided this school but I know I must return Peeta's jacket to him.

The school hours are over so there are no kids running around as I walk through the main doors. I head over the where the "office" is and go up to the lady behind the counter. She is wear absurdly insane clothes and has a mass of curly pink hair upon her head.

"Uhh, I was wondering if Peeta was still here?" I ask timidly.

"Oh yes!" She exclaims standing up "I'll just go get him for you" and with that she hurries off on her tall heels. I sigh as I awkwardly stand there and wait for her to return with Peeta.

I hear the lady before I see her, her voice loud and irritating "yes she had a dark braid" she chatters, .

"Katniss?" Peeta questions.

She chirps up again "oh I don't know her name-ah here we are" she says as they round the corner.

Peeta's eyes light up like a christmas tree when he sees me standing there awkwardly. "Hey Katniss" he says as he beams at me.

"Um hi" I say and he grabs my arm. I flinch back but he doesn't let go.

"Lets go outside to talk" he says as he all but pulls me out the office and into the chilly air.

"So" he says and I take his jacket off and reluctantly hand it over to him.

"I brought your jacket back" I say and he pushes it back towards me.

"You keep it" he says and I shake my head.

"I can't take this, it's such a nice jacket" I say as I hold it out to him again. Once again he pushes it back.

"Well then consider it as a gift from me."

"I don't need any gifts from you" I snap and he sighs and runs a hand through his unruly hair.

"Katniss please, just take the jacket." But I can't, I cant accept his charity. "It's not charity" he says and I cover my mouth with my hand. Did I say that aloud? "Yes you did" he smirks and I glare at him.

"Ok well I'll be going" I say as I take a few steps back.

"No! Wait!" Peeta calls after me. I turn around and he takes a deep breath before turning a light shade of red. "Uh, I was uh, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go see a m-movie with me on saturday night?" He asks and then lets out a long breath and looks down at the ground.

I feel my face turn a deep shade of red and I think to myself, 'is he asking me out on a date?' I run my hand over my braid and fiddle with the end of it. I was excited, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and my heart raced at the thought of going out with someone. But there's that one thought holding me back. Aside from not thrusting people and keeping myself, why?

"Why would you want to go with me? You barely know me?" I ask and he turns a deeper shade of red.

"I uh, well your really beautiful and I like you. Your so independent and stubborn and I know I hardly know anything about you but thats why I want to go out with you. I want to know everything there is to know about you" he says in a rush and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"That's what i'm scared of" I say quietly, "I don't want you to know about me. You would run away as soon as I told you" I say and he takes another step towards me until I can smell the sweet scent of dill and vanilla. I close my eyes and then brave a look up into his. Bad mistake, I am captured by the bright blue eyes and I can't seem to tear my gaze from his.

Peeta brings his hand up to my face as rests it on my cheek. "Don't be scared" he whispers. And I close my eyes, unconsciously leaning into his touch. "Please" he sighs and I can't stop all the terrifying thoughts from zooming through my head, so I open my eyes until I am looking up into his again.

"I don't know" I say as I start to pull away.

"Please Katniss. One date" he begs and I can't help but not say no to those eyes.

"One date" I say "Saturday," and he nods, a smile overtaking his face.

I start to walk away when he calls out my name again. I stop and turn around to see him jogging over to me. "Can I have your number? Just so I can text you, if anything happens" he asks and I start to panic.

I can't say I have no phone, what would he think of me? He would suspect something for sure. I try to hide the panicked look that just crossed my face. "Sure" I say "do you have a pen?" He pulls a pen out of his pocket and hands it to me.

Oh no, how many numbers does a mobile number have again? I can't remember. I think it's ten so I decide to go with that. I write down ten random numbers, praying that he doesn't need to text me. "38?" Peeta questions when he reads out the first two numbers. "That's unusual for the starting numbers" he says and I nod awkwardly.

"Yeah it is strange" I say distantly.

"So I'll meet you at the movie theatre at 8:00?" Peeta asks and I nod my head.

"I'll see you then" I say and then head off to walk back home.

I try to think through everything that is going on in my head but I can't make sense of the mess of thoughts. That's when it really hits me. I am going on a date with Peeta Mellark. I am actually going on a date. Katniss Everdeen does not go on dates. Why would anyone want to go on a date with me? And besides, I told myself I wouldn't let anyone in, I wouldn't let anyone know about my home.

But for some reason I felt a pull towards Peeta. I dont know if this date will be a good thing. But it is only one date. I promise myself now that there will not be a second or a third date. It can't go any further than a movie. And then I think how i've show Peeta that I live in a house that belongs to someone I don't know. And how I just gave him a fake phone number. I really am going to exremes to keep this a secret.

And thats when I realize. With a roll of my eyes and a heavy sigh, I am still carrying Peeta Mellark's jacket.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next five days between when Peeta asked me out and Saturday night, I went straight to Haymitch and asked him for extra shifts. At first he was reluctant and didn't really want to pay me for shifts when it wasn't busy. But eventually I managed to wear him down into letting me work from opening to closing time.

I spend those five days working. I am walking to work before the sun is up and walking home after dark. I know this is putting my body at even more risk of me getting sick because i'm under so much stress and i'm so tired. But I refuse to be embarrassed infront of Peeta on saturday night.

Friday afternoon Haymitch lets me leave work early since he has to go home because he was too hung over or something. He gives me my pay for the week and I stare in shock at all money I earned for those 5 days of constant, non-stop work. I can feel the exhaustion about to take me over but it was worth it. I know that I can now go and buy some new clothes to wear and I can pay for my own ticket.

If I push all my worries aside I can actually feel excited about this date. Peeta was different. I don't know anything about him, and he doesn't know anything about me. I intend for it to stay that way but there's something there, pulling at my heart. I know, deep down that I am actually really excited for this.

It's nearing the end of the school day so I decide to go to the town school and see if Ellen is there to take me shopping for something to wear. I have no clue about what to get when it comes to clothes and fashion. Most of the time I really don't care.

I stand behind a tree just far away from the entrance to the school. I can see teenagers flooding out of the doors, the bell must have already gone. I wait for around twenty minutes until I see Ellen walk out with Finnick. She has her bag slung over her shoulder as she laughs at something Finnick says. He pulls her into his arms and kisses her before they part ways.

I stand up from the ground and walk over to Ellen. Her face lights up when she sees me and I can't help but return a small smile. "Hey Katniss" she waves. "Hey um, are you free right now?" I ask and she looks around.

"Well I have papers to mark, but thats ok. What do you need?" She asks and I shake my head.

"Thats ok, you can mark the papers, I'll be fine" I say and she takes a step forward. "No Katniss, really its fine. They don't have to be done until the end of the weekend, what do you need?" She asks again and I sigh.

"Well you know how Peeta and I are going to the movies tomorrow night?" I ask and she nods, almost jumping up and down.

"Yes i'm so happy for you and Peeta" she gushes.

"Yeah well I have nothing to wear" I say embarrassingly as I look down at my mattered clothes.

"Oh yes I'll help you find something" she beams as she grabs my head and pulls me off down the road towards the main part of town.

"Annie can we wait?" I ask softly, "I don't like to be around a lot of people" I say, blushing a deep, embarrassed red.

"Oh don't worry about that. I'll be here for you" she says as she continues walking.

After two hours of shopping and me continually rolling my eyes and the eccentric behavior of Ellen in a clothes shop we finally settle on just a pair of what she calls skinny jeans and a nice top and jacket. I made Ellen take me to the cheapest shop there was in town and I only just have enough money left for a ticket for tonight.

This week I worked so hard to be able to get this money and it's gone in one night. Money is such a life ruiner. I mean why can't we all just live equally? Instead of having orphans like me being thrown out of an orphanage at the age of 18.

Except even though the lady at the orphanage used my age as an excuse, I knew she really just wanted to get rid of me. There were lots of other kids my age at the orphanage and they never got kicked out like I did.

"Hey are you alright?" Ellen asks me as she walks me to the edge of town.

"Yeah i'm fine" I say "just zoned out." I can't stop thinking about my life, how much its changed and how different it would be if Prim and my parents were still here.

"Are you sure you ok to walk home from here?" Ellen asks me when we reach the end of town.

I nod my head "yeah I'll be fine, thank you, for helping me" I say and she beams at me.

"I'm just so excited for you guys" she says and I smile sadly at her, she can't know that this isn't going to go past one date.

"See you Annie" I say as I head off back to my home in the woods.

That night I spend freezing, despite wearing Peeta's jacket. I can't seem to sleep. I am up all night, my head spinning with a million thoughts.

The next night at 7:30 I walk briskly from the woods and into town. I have never been to the movie theatre before, i've walked past it and had to deal with the cruel smell of the popcorn as my empty stomach wrenches at the buttery smell. And I can't help but feel proud of how hard I worked this week just to be able to afford this night out.

I thought of Prim last night while I lay awake, high up in the tree. I thought of how she wouldn't want me to put my whole life on hold because she had died. Infact she would have squealed and gotten much more excited than me if she were here and witnessed me going on a date with Peeta.

I arrive at the movie theater at 7:40 and I sit down on one of the couches in the main entrance when I see Peeta hasn't arrived yet. I know the movie starts at 8:20 but I don't know what we are seeing. I sit on the couch while I wait. Looking around at all the couples and family's and friends that are out to see a movie. I see a young couple on one of the other couches and it is so obvious how much they are in love. Thats what I want.

I know i'm scared of that, but after having very little people in your life that care about you, and then suddenly having no one. Life can take its toll.

I look up at the big clock on the walk and see it's ten minutes untill eight. I look around through the small crowd of people for Peeta but I can't spot those curly blond locks anywhere.

I grow more and more uncomfortable as the minutes pass by. Soon enough it's twenty past eight and I know that the movie is about to start. This is why I wish I had a phone. So I could call Peeta or something. At eight thirty I know, deep down that he has stood me up, but I can't seem to bring myself to accept that. I keep telling myself 'maybe he's just alittle late.'

But by nearly 9:00 I know that he's not running late. He was never going to show up. I feel the tears prick my eyes when I realize that nobody really wants to go on a date with me. This was probably some evil prank to see if he could get the lonely girl to go on a date. I stand up from the couch and rush out of the movie theater with tears streaming down my face as I run all the way back to the woods.

Once I get back to my tree I don't even try to hide the sobs and tears as I cry for not only tonight but finally letting the flood gates open for the last ten years.

I dig through my bag and pull out the photo of my family and clutch it tight to my chest as I sob. I read through the letter Prim wrote to me when she was dying. How sweet she sounds even in writing. And when I close my eyes I can almost imagine she is here with me. Holding me as I cry. As I really cry for the first time in years.


	7. Chapter 7

How can I possibly live like this? How can anybody live like this? In a world where you may appear strong but really you just need somebody to love. The pain that wrenches through you after every day. The way you can tell when you are getting extremely sick, simply because that's just the lifestyle you are used to. How the world is an evil place. Where you have to search for lovable things a lot of the time.

That is how I feel now as I run the way towards the town school. I don't even care if it's the middle of the day, I don't care that there are going to be kids there and it's probably lunch time. The only thing I can think or care about is how much I am relying on Ellen's help right now.

I've never been a person that seeks out help from others but now I just need to talk to her. I burst through the doors of the school to see that it is infact lunchtime. I half walk, half jog to the office and the crazy lady with all the bright colours is there again.

"Oh Katniss darling, are you here to see Peeta again?" She chirps and I shake my head. Deffinitly not.

"Is Ellen here today?" I ask and she nods.

"Would you like me to call her over the PA?"

"Yeah thanks" I swallow and start to pace alittle. I hear the lady announcing over the speaker for Ellen to come to the office and not long after I see Ellen round the corner.

"Hey Katniss" she beamed "how was your date?" She asks and I glare at her and pull her out of the office.

"He didn't even show up" I storm and her face masks with shock. "But, I don't understand. Peeta isn't like that. He never does stuff like that" she says in confusion.

"Yeah well he did" I practically growl and she sighs sadly at me. And that's when I see him, staring at me with a look on his face I can't understand.

He catches my eye and I glare at him. I try to hide the hurt in my face but I know he sees it when he starts to walk over. Ellen turns around to see what I am looking at and she crosses her arms when she sees him walking over. "How could you do that?" She asks and he looks between her and me with confusion before his eyes light up with recognition.

"Katniss, can we talk? In private" he asks and I eye him warily.

"Come on Katniss" Ellen murmurs.

I sigh, "fine."

Peeta leads me over to an empty classroom and shuts the door behind him. "Are you ok?" He asks.

I scoff "am I ok?" I retort sarcastically, more like talking to myself than addressing Peeta.

"Katniss I was worried about you" he says.

"Why would you be worried about me?" I snap crossing my arms.

"You didn't answer my texts and I was worried that you were angry at me or something had happened..." He trails off.

"I didn't get your texts" I say trying to play off that I simply hadn't checked my phone. He sighs and leans against a desk.

"You gave me a fake phone number" he says and I shake my head maybe alittle too quickly at his response. "Katniss come on. I know it was a fake number. Why didn't you give me your real number? If you had of then you wouldn't have thought I stood you up; and you would have seen I got held up with family business and couldn't make it. I'm sorry" he says in a rush.

"I didn't give you a real number because I don't have have a real phone" I say and his eyes roam over me and then finally stop when they meet my own silver eyes.

"Your ashamed that you don't have a phone?" He asks confused.

"I don't know" I say and he pushes off the desk and takes a few careful steps towards me.

"Well you shouldn't be" he murmurs and I look down at the ground.

"Do you think we can have a do-over for that date?" He asks and I shake my head slowly.

"I can't have a relationship right now. It's not the right time" I say and grabs my chin and gently lifts my head up so i'm gazing into his eyes again.

"Just as friends?" He asks and I can't say no to those eyes.

"Just as friends" I say and his smile could light up New York City after dark.

"So when should we go out?" He asks and I shrug.

"I'm always free" I say and he thinks about this for a moment.

"How about this friday night?" He says.

"Yeah that's fine. Where are we going to go?" I ask.

"I don't mind, really, you can choose" he says and I think for a moment of the smell of popcorn.

"I've never been to the cinema before, do you mind if we go there?" I ask shyly.

"No I don't mind, cinemas it is then. Do you want me to pick you up from your house?" He asks.

"Um no thats ok, I'll meet you at the cinemas" I say uncomfortably. Peeta looks at his watch before talking to me again.

"Do you want to come and have lunch with me now?" He asks and I fiddle with the end of my braid.

"I don't have any money on me" I say and waves it off with his hand.

"Don't worry about that. My brother dropped in a whole bag of bakery goods from our store and there are far too much for me to eat alone" he says.

"Uh ok then, sure" I say. He grabs my hand and pulls me out of the classroom and towards one of the other rooms I can only assume is the staff room.

He drags me in there which is extremely uncomfortable since the room is full of teachers. I shyly smile at a few of them as they stare at me while Peeta grabs a big bag off one of the benches. "Lets go eat in my office" he says and I nod as he leads the way out of the staff room, completely oblivious to how uncomfortable I was in there.

I sit down on the chair at Peeta's desk while he clears a bunch of papers from the center of the desk. Peeta sits down and pulls out all the foods and my stomach grumbles embarrassingly at the sweet smell of the bakery foods. "You hungry?" Peeta asks me.

I shrug my shoulders "yeah a little I guess" I say. This was a complete lie, i'm starved. I haven't eaten in a few days. I try to eat slowly as Peeta hands me over a bunch of pastries.

I know that if I were alone then I would be eating so fast I probably wouldn't even have time to digest the food. But i'm not alone, Peeta is sitting opposite me and watching me with a bemused look on his face as I try my hardest to eat slowly. "What?" I say when he still doesn't take his eyes off me.

"Nothing" he murmurs and shakes his head as if to clear a thought.

I pick up a bun which is oozing with cheese. The smell is heavenly and when I bite into it I moan. I actually moan. Is that how deprived of food I am, that I am making noises when I eat something that actually tastes good?

Peeta smirks at me "I call them cheese buns" he says and I almost choke on my food.

"You made these?" I question in wonder and he nods.

"Yeah my parents own a bakery, I grew up there" he explains.

"Well these are amazing" I say as I take another bite.

"So tell me about yourself" Peeta says as he leans back in his chair. I swallow and try to think of a way out of this.

"There's not much to know" I say, once again another lie and Peeta sees straight through it.

"I knows there's more to you than any other person. But I respect your privacy" he says and I sigh with a small smile of my face.

"Thank you" I say, "what about you?" I ask and he smiles.

"Well you already know I grew up in a bakery" he says.

"But really, right now i'm 21 years old" he says.

"Thats really young for a teacher" I say and he nods.

"Yeah it is, they were looking for someone and I was there and ready" he says.

"What subjects do you teach?" I ask.

"I teach english but my main subject is art" he says and I can feel my eyebrow raise.

"Really? You draw?" I ask.

"Yeah and I paint too. I can show you sometime" he says.

"Yeah, I'd like that" I say and he smiles widely.

"So, how old are you?" He asks.

"Uh i'm only 19" I say and he smiles.

"Two years is no difference at all" he says and I glare at him.

"Just friends" I say.

"Just friends" he smirks; and then I hear him add quietly under his breath "for now."


	8. Chapter 8

I walk through town as the snow falls in flakes that are catching in everyone's hair. The biting cold whips at my bare face. I walk past the bakery and can't help but stop when I see the decorated cakes in the window. I haven't stopped and looked at these since before Prim died. I haven't been to the bakery since that night over ten years ago when the woman broke my arm.

As I am staring I notice a figure move on the other side of the window. I look past the cakes and my eyes focus in on a pair of bright blue eyes and messy blond hair. I gasp in recognition for I suddenly remember where I know Peeta from. I can tell my the look in his eyes that he remembers that day too now that we have met at the same place again. I can't help but remember back to that day over ten years ago.

 _Flashback_

"Out!" A woman's voice screamed at me and I quickly replaced the lid to the garbage can where I had been looking for scrap food. The rain is making it hard to see the woman but the warm glow that is seeping out of the bakery windows and door gives me enough light to see a strict looking woman stalking over to me.

"Did you not hear me? I said get out" she yells at me and I stumble backwards, dropping the torn bag of my little sister Prims baby clothes. I had been trying to sell them in the hope to recieve some money or even something like a ball of yarn or a slice of stale bread. The woman stalks up to me and before I can do anything she slaps me hard across the face "filthy seam rat!" She screams as the impact of her slap causes me to fall to the ground.

I hear a snap as my wrist takes all my weight when I fall and land in the mud, rain pouring down my face and continuing to soak my clothes. The woman stalks back off into the bakery. I hold my wrist limply in my other hand as I sit in the mud and I do what any other 8 year old girl who had broken her wrist would do. I cry, I cry for my mother.

But I know that even though my mother is a healer, she won't come help me. This morning she was extremely tired and she wouldn't wake up. Daddy had died a few years ago from an explosion in the mines and I know that Prim is very sick. I hear footsteps and I look up to see the baker walking through the rain towards me. He crouches down infront of me and I look up at him through my tears.

"Hey little one" he says, his voice much nicer than the woman's. "Its alright, I won't hurt you" he says as he scoops me up into his arms and carries me inside the bakery.

The baker carries me through a door and he places me on a chair at an old wooden table. He takes my wrist and looks at it before leaving and coming back with a first-aid kit. As he is bandaging my hand I catch sight of a little boy who looks abit older than me. I see his head poke around the corner, his blue eyes blaze with confusion and curiosity. His blond curly hair sweeps unruly into his eyes. Before I have even gotten a real chance to study him he is gone again.

 _End Flashback_

Peeta slowly walks around the counter and out the door. He is wearing a white apron and there is flour dusted over his hands and face. "Katniss" he whispers and I shake my head, taking a step back "don't" I say "I know you remember too. but don't" I warn.

"Don't what?" he ask as he takes another step forward "don't ask what happened that day at the bakery? Katniss I need to know" he begs and I can tell my face is giving a distressed look. "Hey, can you just wait ten minutes while I finish this cake? and then we can talk" he asks as he gestures back into the bakery. "I don't want to talk" I mutter, "Katniss please" he begs and I look up at him "okay" I whisper as I trudge into the bakery after him.

I sit down at one of the tables while Peeta disappears through a door behind the counter. I drum my fingers on the tabletop as I try to ignore the grumbling in my stomach from all the delicious scents of the pastries.

Ten minutes later Peeta comes out free of flour and he gestures for me to follow him back out of the bakery. "Thanks for waiting" he says and I shrug "it's not like I had anywhere else to be" I say as I pull the sleeves of Peeta's jacket over my hands.

"I see you still have my jacket" he points out and I say the first thing that comes to my head "it smells like you" I blurt out and then slap my hand over my mouth. I can see Peeta giving me a smirk and I feel my face flush red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that or anything I swear I just" I fumble over my words and Peeta reaches out and places a warm hand on my arm "hey it's ok. I wanted you to have it remember?" He says and I give a small nod "sure."

I fiddle nervously with the end of my braid, a habit I was slowly getting more and more addicted to. "Katniss what happened that day? I remember you sitting at our table crying while my father wrapped your hand in a bandage. What actually happened. You looked so sad that day. I remember wanting to help you so bad..." He trails off and then seems to finish the sentence in his head. He looks to me and I sigh as we both sit down on a bench in the main park in town.

There is hardly anyone around since it is so cold outside and its nearly nightfall, just about dusk to be exact. "It was one of the worst days of my life" I say and he stares at me intently. I don't really want to open up to him like this, but I feel like I have to, and he has a right to know.

"My father had died several years earlier and my mother had never been the same again, she still looked after us and cared for us. But she just had something missing. My mother wouldn't wake up that morning and I had been trying to trade some of Prim's old baby clothes. It was cold and rainy and we were all starving. We were dying. We would have died" I say and I can see the worry etched onto Peeta's face.

"I had gone through the rubbish out the back of your bakery in the hope to find any scrap of food I could, so I could at least bring something home to my mother and Prim. Your mother saw me through the bakery window" I say and he gasps and unconciously reaches out and grasps my hand in his. I let him because the warmth feels nice.

"Your mother screamed at me and threw me to the ground, she broke my hand that day and your father found me and helped me inside" I say and he closes his eyes and rests his forehead against my shoulder. "I'm so sorry Katniss" he whispers and I feel that this is the closest we've ever been.

"That's not the worst part" I whisper and he lifts his head and looks at me sadly. "What is it?" He asks brushing a strand of hair from my face. "My mother died that day" I murmur and he lets out a long breath. "Prim and I got shipped off the the orphanage and when I was 12 and Prim was 8 she died of a horrible sickness. The orphanage hated me. They kicked me out once I turned 18" I whisper and I feel tears prick my eyes. "I'm so sorry Peeta" I whisper and he reaches over and pulls me in for a tight hug.

I'm wouldn't usually let someone show this much affection towards me but I can't help but melt at the warmth that radiates from Peeta, and the comfort it brings me. Peeta pulls away. "And now you live alone? In the seam?" He asks and I am about to shake my head when I think that I don't want him knowing Inlive in the woods yet.

"Yeah, that house you walked me to a few weeks or something ago" I say and he reaches out and wipes a few stray tears from my face. "I just miss my family" I say as I finally brake down and cry on Peeta's shoulder. He rubs my back soothingly "we'll be your family" he murmurs softly "me, Ellen and Finnick." And at this I cry even harder as I soak his shirt with my tears. There is a smell that is distinctly Peeta linguring on his shirt and it's calming me down as much as I hate to admitt it.

"We will be here for you always" he promises and I can't help but feel comforted by this promise, as much as I know it will probably not last for very long. "Always" he whispers.


	9. Chapter 9

Since I told Peeta about my past I can't help but notice how much more time we have been spending together. And throughout this time I can't help but notice how increasingly sick I have become this winter. The cold and lack of food is finally starting to take it's toll on me.

I am walking along the side of the frozen lake when all of a sudden I cannot breath. It feels as though all the air has been sucked out of me. My head spins and my vision blackens as I collapse down onto the ground. I cough and choke as I lean forward and try to ignore the feeling of nausea gurgling up my throat.

I cough out a loud choke as I vomit all over the ground infront of me. My head spins as my stomach retches over and over again. Once I have stopped coughing and it is just a pounding headache that refuses to go away; I crawl along the ground to the frozen lake. I pick up a large rock and throw it at the surface. I hear a resounding crack as the ice splits and I thrown another rock as the i've completely brakes away and creates a small hole.

I can just fit my hand down the crack as I scoop some of the numbing, cold water and rinse my mouth out. Once the taste of the vomit has vanished I pull myself up from the ground and sway alittle bit from the dizzyness. I lean against a tree for a minute while I catch my breath again and focus on ignoring the insistent pounding in my head.

What just happened? I think before I realise this is the same thing that happened last year when I was sick. So sick I nearly died. I stumble out of the woods into the worst part of the seam. I walk slowly down the dirt road, where run down houses sit either side. There are little kids playing outside as it is a saturday.

I slowly start to move from the extreme poor part of the seam to the poor part. There isn't much difference really other than the house are alittle nicer.

As I come to the corner of the main road I see a mop of curly blond hair pacing back and forth at the corner. I can't make out who it is but I have strong suspicions. Only town people have blond hair and not many town people would willingly venture into the seam.

As I get closer my suspicions are proved correct when those worried blue eyes lock with mine. "Katniss where have to been?" He demands as he take a few long strides over to me and pulls me in for a tight hug. I wriggle out of his grasp and stare at him confused "What do you mean?" I ask.

"I've been sitting out the front of your house all night" he says and I look at him confused "my house?" I question before I realize we are standing outside of the house I pretended was mine about a month ago. "Oh right my house yes" I say catching on and pretending like I didn't just basically tell him this wasn't my house.

"This isn't your house" he says and it's not a question. He knows. "Um yeah it is" I say weakly and he shakes his head "Katniss don't lie to me" he demands as he runs a hand through his messy hair. "Ok so maybe it isn't my house" I sigh and his eyes flit between me and the direction that I just came from.

"Why did you lie to me? I've been so worried about you all night" he says with a shaky sigh and I shake my head. "I don't want you to know or see where I really live" I whisper and he takes a step closer to me. He brings his hand up to my face and rests it on my cheek; I can't help but lean into his touch.

"I won't judge you. I want to know your safe" he says "your living all alone Katniss."

"You will judge me, and i've been doing just fine on my own since Prim died. And if I show you then...then i'm scared that...that" I stumble over my words and he shakes his head, signalling for me to stop my frantic blubbering.

"I promised you that I would be here always and I will, I won't leave you, no matter what" he says and I can't help but belive him. Peeta takes his hand from my face and walks over to the ratty garden of a nearby house. He bends down and picks something from the grass before walking back over to me.

"A dandelion?" I question as he holds the blooming flower out to me? He tucks the bloom behind my ear "the promise" he whispers and I feel tears prick my eyes. "Thank you" I whisper as I grip his hand tightly in mine. "Now can you show me where you live?" He asks and I close my eyes as a million thoughts go through my head and what i could possibly be about to do.

I can, but I can't. I have more negative thoughts as to why I shouldn't do this wizzing around in my head but I can't seem to clear my head of them. "I-I don't know" I begin and I make the famous mistake of looking up into his eyes. I can see the worry hidden in his eyes and the crease lines on his face.

"I'm worried why you won't tell me" he says and I take a step backwards from him. "Because you will try to help me and I don't need help" I snap and he looks at me, taken aback.

"Katniss if you need help then-" "no! I do not need your pity or your help" I almost growl and he shakes his head "I would never pity you" he says and I can see how much this is bothering you.

"You promise you won't judge me, or try to help me?" I ask and my voice is almost small compared to how I was snapping at him not twenty seconds ago. "I promise" he says and I nod once before turning on my heel and walking back in the direction I came from.

I can see Peeta's confused look as he sees we are slowly walking out of the seam. Once we reach the edge of the woods I walk through them. I don't think Peeta has picked it up yet, he probably thinks I live in some cottage in a clearing.

Once we reach my tree I stop and Peeta looks around. "Where abouts do you live?" He asks eyeing the woods carefully. "Here" I say pointing to the tree. "His gaze looks up to the higher branches where there is a bag tied to the branch.

He gasps when he realises and shakes his head furiously as he understands. "No" he chokes out as tears fill his eyes. "You promised" I remind him warningly. He turns to me with a distressed look on his face. "Katniss your homeless? Your alone and homeless. How can you expect me not to help you?" He demands; wiping hastly at his tears.

"I don't need help, i've been living here for over a year, and why would you care anyways" I snap and he takes a step towards me. "Please, Katniss, "please let me help you" he begs and I shake my head. "I can't burden you like that" I say and he begins to speak but I cut him off "please Peeta just leave" I say as I look down as my hands. "Katniss-" "leave!" I demand and I hear the crunching sound of his footsteps on the forest floor as he slowly walks away.

I let out a sob and slide down the tree until i'm huddled up on the ground. Why did I show him? Why did I do that? I sob again as the tears slowly fall. Not only does he now know where I live but I also just lost one of my only friends.


	10. Chapter 10

That night I sleep on the cold ground. I'm too weak to climb up the tree and settle in the fork in the branches. I have Peeta's jacket wrapped around me tightly as I try to absorb all of it's warmth. But even that doesn't stop the intense shivering. I can't seen to fall asleep. I have tear streaks down my face and I think my hands are purple with the bitter cold air.

All of a sudden I hear the crunch of feet and I freeze, as much as I can with the cold. The footsteps get closer until I see a dark figure emerge from the trees. "Oh Katniss" he sighs and I know it's Peeta, he sounds like he's just had his heart broken. I see him rush over to me and I roll over and face away from him. "I told you I don't need help" I sob as the tears start to build up again.

"I couldn't leave you out here alone and freezing" he says with a sniff and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to erase every thought. I feel something heavy drape over me and then Peeta's arms wrap around me. He has laid down with me and brought a blanket. I roll over in his arms and look up so I can just make out his face by the light of the moon.

"What are you doing?" I whisper and he hugs me tighter. "I'm staying with you, always, like I promised" he says and I rest my head on his chest. "Thank you" I murmur and he kisses my forehead softly. "Peeta I-" I start but he stops me "shh it's ok, we'll talk in the morning, go to sleep" he says softly and I nod before slowly drifting off to sleep.

I wake up in the morning and realize it's the first sleep i've ever had with no nightmares and not waking up because of the cold winter air. I look up to see Peeta gazing down at me "hey" he says as I sit up and wrap the blanket that he brought tightly around me. "Thank you, for staying with me" I say, not making eye contact with him. "But it can't happen again" I murmur; "this is my world. You don't belong here, you belong in your warm house with a loving family" I continue, still not looking at him.

"Katniss you don't belong here either" he says and I shake my head "no, I do. This is what life had out for me. For me to be alone and living in the woods. It's what I deserve" I say and I finally look up and see he has tears in his eyes. "No katniss no" his voice cracks "you deserve so much better than this" he says and I shake my head letting the tears fall freely down my face.

"You can stay at my house, please let me help you" he begs and hastly wipe the tears with the back of my hand. "Peeta I can't burden you with that. I have no money to pay you or anything" I sob. "you wont have to pay me. Just you being alive and healthy will be payment enough. Please" he pleads.

"Just for a few nights" I say and he starts to say something before changing his mind. "Okay" he whispers. "Thank you Peeta, truly" I say softly and he leans over and rests his hand on my shoulder "I would do anything, for you to be safe" he says before standing up and starting to fold the blanket.

I stand up and climb up the tree, grabbing my bag and then climbing down. About halfway down my foot slips on the ice that has frozen to the tree trunk. I let out a scream as I flail down to the ground and land with a gasp of air on the ground.

I groan as Peeta rushes over to me "Katniss are you okay?" He frantically asks and I give a painful nod "Yep, i'm good" I say in a breath of air. "Are you sure? Do you want me to carry you?" He asks and I shake my head "nope I'll be fine" I say as I heave myself up from the ground and dust myself off. "Are you sure? I can-" "I said i'm fine" U snap as I pick up my bag and limp away.

"Katniss" he sighs "i'm sorry, I was just trying to help" he says as he runs to catch up with me. "I already told you I don't need your help. I'm just staying for a few days to make you happy or whatever" I grumble and he shrugs "suit yourself" he says as he takes my bag from me and leads the way out of the woods.

"I can carry my own bag you know" I say rudely and he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Do you ever let anyone do anything for you?" He says annoyed. "Not when i'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own" I snap and he sighs again and walks just ahead of me.

As we reach the edge of the woods and road leading to town he gives up on being angry at me and turns around "i'm sorry" he says and I shrug "it's ok, i'm kinda sorry too" I mumble "kinda?" He questions "i'm just not good with words, thats all. Not a lot of people want to help me, no one infact until you" I point out and he reaches over and takes my hand. "I will help you, even if my life depends on it" he says "thank you" I whisper and he nods and smiles warmly at me. He lets go of my hand and I immediatly miss the warmth it held.

We walk in silence and Peeta leads me through town. "Are you hungry?" He asks and I look down and shake my head "yes you are" he says in regards to me shaking my head. "Peeta i'm fine honestly" I say but he won't take any of it. "When was the last time you ate?" He asks and I try and think back to the last time I actually ate. But with everything going on I honestly can't remember. "I don't know" I murmur and he sighs, his face falls and he runs a hand through his hair.

"I can't belive anything like this could ever happen to you" he whispers sadly as he leads me across town and into the bakery that they own. We walk through the door and there is another boy that looks alittle older than Peeta standing behind the counter. He also has blond hair but his eyes aren't as bright as Peeta's.

"Hey Rye" Peeta says as he sits me down in a booth. "Stay" he says and I frown at him "i'm not a dog" I huff and I see him smirk as he makes his way out the back. I shift uncomfortably in my seat as Rye leans against the countertop and stares at me. "Can I help you?" I ask rudely and he gets this goofy look on his face "your Katniss Everdeen" he tells me and I roll my eyes "how do you know my name?" I ask and at this he smiles even wider. "My baby bro doesn't shut up about you" he says and Inlook at him confused. Does he mean Peeta?

At that moment Peeta walks out from the back carrying a large plate full of all sorts of pastries. My stomach growls at the buttery and sweet scent and I almost throw up, thats how deprived of food I have been. Peeta sets the plate in the middle of the table as he takes a seat opposite me. "Um do you mind if I have a glass of water?" I ask nervously as I suddenly realise how thirsty I am. "Oh sure" Peeta smiles as he gets up from the table and disappears out the back again.

He returns with two glasses and a jug of water. I scull the first and second glass and only drink half of the third as Peeta stares at me shocked. "Sorry" I mutter embarrassed, "no it's ok" he assures me.

After we have eaten Peeta thanks his brother and we head back out into the wintery cold air. Peeta leads the way to his house and I am shocked to see a small double story house which is nice without it going over the top. "Are you ready?" Peeta asks and I nod and follow him up the path and to the front door.

* * *

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS !

I can update so quikly because i made it a while ago :)

Thanks.


	11. Chapter 11

"Uh you can sleep in my room" Peeta says as he shows me the last room of his house. I walk in and see a huge bed with dark blue covers, there are lamps on bedside tables either side of the bed and a door which i'm guessing leads to his cupboard.

"But where will you sleep?" I ask looking around. "I can take the couch" he says as though it's nothing. "Don't be silly, I can sleep on the couch; I've been sleeping on much worse for over a year" I point out. "Yeah but you don't deserve that, all the more reason for you to have a good sleep" he says as he takes my bag from me and sets it on the bed. I sigh, giving up as I can't be bothered arguing with him right now.

"Do you want to take a shower?" He asks and I nod slowly "uh sure" I say as he motions for me to follow him. "Uh here's a towel" he says handing me a big folded, fluffy towel. "I supposed you want some clean clothes?" He asks and then turns and walks out of the bathroom before I can answer him.

He returns with a pair of his pyjama pants, a jacket and one of his t-shirts. "I'm sorry this is all I have at the moment, but I can put your clothes through the washing machine if you like?" He says and I nod uncomfortably as I take the clothes from his outstretched hands. "Thank you" I whisper and he nods his head once before turning and shutting the door as he leaves me alone.

I slowly strip down out of my clothes and turn towards the shower. I've only ever had a few showers in my life. Before I went to the orphanage we couldn't afford a shower, we had to boil water and rinse off in a large tin bucket. When Prim and I went to the orphanage we only got to have a shower every now and again if the old bathtubs were full with children, which wasn't very often.

I slowly turn on the hot tap until it is just nice when I put my hand under the flowing water. I step under the warm spray and immediatly sigh outloud at how nice the water feels running down my body.

I stand in there for what feels like hours until I hear a knock at the door. "Katniss are you ok in there?" I hear Peeta's voice call out worridly. "Yeah i'm fine" I call out before shutting off the water. I use the towel to dry myself and then pull on Peeta's clothes which, I hate to admitt, are extremely comfy. I quickly braid my hair back before scooping the pile of old clothes off the bathroom floor.

I walk out and place my old clothes on Peeta's bed and then pull the sleeves of the jacket down around my hands as I trudge down the stairs to where I can hear Peeta in what must be the kitchen. I can't help but notice how relaxed and clean I feel after the shower, how much of a difference it made.

I walk into the kitchen and can smell the most delicious thing cooking, I see Peeta with his back to me as he stirs a pot on the stove. "Hey" I say quietly as I sit down on the edge of one of the bar stools. Peeta turns around, his cheeks are flushed and he smiles brightly at me. "Does that feel better?" He asks and I nod silently as I pull the jacket tighter around me. "Are you hungry?" He asks gesturing to the steaming pot.

"Alittle" I murmur with a shrug of my shoulders and he nods before turning around and dishing out two bowls of what looks like stew. He sets one infront of me with a spoon while he takes the seat next to me at the counter. "Are you ok?" He asks and I nod as I take a spoon of the stew and I almost moan at how good it tastes. "What is it?" I ask Peeta.

"Lamb stew. Have you ever had it before?" He asks and I shake my head "I haven't even had lamb before" I say. Lamb was a luxury we could never afford. Peeta looks at me with shock for a moment before smiling widely at me "well now you have" he beams and I can't help the small smile that flitters across my face.

After dinner Peeta insists on cleaning up the dishes. "You go pick out a movie or something we can watch" he says and I sigh as I give up. I trudge into where he pointed the living room was and see a shelf full of dvds. I gaze at them all unknowingly. I've never watched a movie before so I don't know what's good or not.

I eventually see one titled Robin Hood and I pull that one out of it's spot of the shelf. I know absolutely nothing about it but I decide to watch this one anyway. May as well start somewhere.

"Did you pick one out?" Peeta asks as he comes into the livingroom. I hold up the dvd and he smiles widely "great pick" he comments as he takes it out of my hands and sets up the television. I sit awakwardly on the edge of the couch as Peeta sits next to me. "Don't be shy, make yourself at home" he says and I scoot back and bend my legs underneith me.

The movie starts and I can't help but think how good it is, even though I have nothing to compare it to. Eventually somewhere near the end of the movie I am falling asleep on Peeta's shoulder, lulled by his sweet scent of dill and vanilla.

I wake up later on when everything is still dark. I sit up from where I was laying on Peeta's shoulder and see that he has fallen asleep also. The dvd menu is playing over and over on repeat and the whole place is eerily quiet other than the sound of the tv.

I suddenly realise that this is the first time, other than with peeta last night, that I have ever slept without any nightmares or waking up. I can't even be bother getting up from the couch and walking up to the bed Peeta lent me so I lay back on the couch and close my eyes as I drift off to sleep again.

When I wake up next the first thing I notice is the room is bright with daylight, the second thing is that the house is completely silent and I am alone. And the last thing I notice is a small ripped piece of paper with scrawled handing along it.

 _Katniss,_

 _I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you when you wake up but I had to get to work as it is monday. If you should need me I'll be at the town school. I will get home as soon as I can but I have an important errand to run after school before I come home, its nothing you need to worry about at this point in time. Help yourself to anything you want in the house and I'll be home tonight._

 _Have fun,_

 _Peeta_

But the thing that catches me off guard is that one small sentence. 'It's nothing you need to worry about at this point in time.'

That is what makes me think, what is it that Peeta is doing, that he doesn't exactly want me to know about yet?"


	12. Chapter 12

That day I spend the morning floating around Peeta's house, trying to make myself useful in some way or another. Peeta's note left me in a fit of confusion as I am constantly wondering where in the world Peeta could be going that he wouldn't tell me. But I suppose I don't particularly play a big part in his life; so it kind of makes sense that he wouldn't trust me enough.

I am just wandering into his bedroom where my bag still rests on his bed from last night; when a terrible shooting pain screams through my stomach, making me fling my arm out and clench onto the doorframe tightly as I squeeze my eyes shut. My head suddenly starts spinning and I can see the world spinning around as my eyes roll into the back of my head. I suddenly feel the urge to vomit, just like in the woods the other day and I sprint down the hall just in time to throw up violently into the toilet.

I slump down on the cold bathroom tiles and rest my head against the wall; closing my eyes to try and get rid of the dizziness. When the pounding in my head refuses to concede I wrap my arms around my stomach as pain ripples through it tirelessly. I groan out loud and silently thank that peeta is at work and not here to witness me being violently sick.

I start to shiver when I realize how cold I feel, despite my skin being hot to touch. I flush the toilet and rinse my mouth at the sink. I stumble into Peeta's bedroom and clumsily pull the king size blanket off the bed and wrap it around me tightly. I grab one of peeta's pillows; hoping he wont mind me using it.

I am still wearing Peeta's clothes from last night and I swear they are the comfiest clothes I have ever worn in my life; I hope he doesn't want these back. I curl up on the couch with a bucket resting on the floor incase I need to be sick again. I close my eyes and try to focus on anything except the insistent throbbing in my head and the stabbing feeling in my stomach as I try not to shiver; despite being wrapped in probably the warmest blanket in the house.

Slowly I begin to drift off into a restless sleep; only to awake a few hours later and throwing up an extensive amount of vomit. I groan as I lean over the edge of the couch and whimper in pain at how uncomfortable I feel right now. Tears sting my eyes as I sob, I just want this pain to go away. This is the same thing that happened last year in winter. When I got extremely sick; but somehow I don't remember it being as bad as this.

Maybe it was because it was my first year living outside or something, I don't know. But the pain feels so much worse this time around. I spend the rest of the day alternating between throwing up and restlessly sleeping on the couch. I keep Peeta's blanket wrapped around me and I am constantly comforted by his scent from his pillow. The vanilla and dill somehow soothes my mind alittle, but doesn't do much for the heavy deadweight I feel.

I awake yet again to a soothing hand brushing my hair softly from my face. I stir as I blink my eyes open and the first thing I see are two bright blue eyes filled with worry. Peeta is crouched down in front of the couch; his hand is resting softly on my forehead.

"Are you okay" he asks, his voice couldn't leak any more concern if he tried. I close my eyes briefly and then shake my head "no" I whisper and he moves his hand on my forehead, feeling for my temperature.

"Geez Katniss, your burning" he says taking in all the blankets I have wrapped around me. I shake my head again "i'm cold" I murmur in a tiny voice. Peeta stands up and picks up the bucket that was beside the couch. I am insistently mortified that he has seen that. "Peeta don't" I say quietly and he shakes his head "don't worry about it" he says as he disappears out of the living room. I bury my face under the blanket, completely humiliated.

"hey, I said don't worry about it" Peeta says as he sets a clean bucket down beside the couch and crouches down infront of me again. "how long has this been going on?" he asks and I don't know if I can tell him the answer, i'm embarrassed enough as it is. "Katniss please, you can tell me" he says and I take a shaky breath as my head spins.

"Since the start of winter" I say "on and off." Peeta sighs heavily and runs a hand through his hair, "why didn't you tell me?" he asks and I shrug my shoulders as best I can while lying on the couch. "It's not that important" I say and his face shows a look of hurt.

"Not import-Katniss this is important, you living out in the death of cold is making you die slowly" he says, his voice raising at the end. "Peeta I was always going to die out there, I still am" I add the last three words quietly. "Katniss" he whispers, his voice breaking down "stop doubting yourself. You are not going to die, I'll help you. I help you find a job good enough to get you some money" he says taking my hand and I feel tears sping into my eyes.

"hey, don't cry" he whispers wiping away my tears. "i'm sorry I murmur "it's just that…no one has ever said something that nice to me in a long time, not since my family died" I say and he leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my forehead.

I can't help but close my eyes as his lips rest against my skin, leaving a foreign tingling feeling behind. "Do you want me to get you something?" Peeta asks and I shake my head, "I'm fine thanks" I say in a croaky voice. "Ill put a movie on" Peeta says and I nod as he get up and puts a dvd into the television. The room lights up with the bright colours and I sigh when Peeta sits down on the other end of the couch with my feet in his lap. It feels nice to be close to someone for once. Its been a long time since i've had someone around who cares about me.

I just don't understand why Peeta would care about me, the sick homeless girl with no family. I'm not particularly pretty either. Little Primmy always said I was the most beautiful girl in the world. But that was because she never really looked in a mirror. If she did she would see that her bright blue eyes, flowing blond hair and sweet smile would outdo any beauty I thought I might have had.

That's when I suddenly remember Peeta went somewhere tonight. "Peeta where did you go after school?" I ask in a small voice and he looks away from the tv screen and I see his eyes go wide while he searches for an excuse.

"It's ok, I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked. Its none of my business" I say and he shakes his head, "Katniss it's not that I don't want you to know, I just can't tell you…yet" he says and I nod my head "sorry" I say quietly as I look at the tv. The movie isn't really making much sense to me but maybe that's just because my head is still spinning.

I close my eyes and slowly start to drift off to sleep when a loud explosion bangs through the house from upstairs. The whole house shakes and I jump up with a start, letting out a scream as my heart jumps against my chest quickly. I look around frantically for the source of the explosion when I see Peeta's eyes widen as he looks at something that is behind me.

 **Cliffhanger guys , sorry :)**


	13. Chapter 13

"Katniss get out of here! Go outside!" Peeta yells at me as he jumps up from the couch. I turn around quickly as I start to smell the stong smoke. My eyes widen as I see flames arising from in the kitchen.

"Peeta!" I call out but he has already disappeared into the kitchen. I get up from the couch and open all the windows to let out all the smoke.

"It's ok" I hear Peeta call out "the oven just exploded, not a big fire." I cough and cover my mouth with my hand. Not a big fire but there sure as hell is a lot of smoke.

"Do you need help?" I ask carefully when I here him let out a loud huff. "No you just go outside and get some fresh air" he says and I eye the kitchen door before walking out the front of the house.

The night air is cool on my burning skin and I breath in the fresh air. It must have been raining again because I can smell the sweet scent of dew and rain on the trees. I sit down on the doorstep and close my eyes, focusing only on the slight breeze of the winter air.

Not longer afterwards I feel someone sit down beside me. I snap my eyes open but immediatly relax when I see it's Peeta. I almost laugh when I see he has ash on his face and in his hair.

"What happened exactly?" I ask curiously and he chuckles and brushes abit of ash from the corner of his eye.

"Uh I left the oven on; and well, that oven was never very good anyway" he smiles and I let out a small, barely noticable laugh. Peeta smiles at me and I cautiously reach up and swipe at a smear of ash on his face. "I think I just made it worse by smudging it" I say and peeta laughs.

"Might have to have a shower then" he says as he stands up, "You coming back inside?" He asks and I shake my head.

"I'll be in soon" I say as I turn my back to him and close my eyes again. The outside has always been my safe haven, most of the time. As much as it has cause a lot of my pain it's what i have grown used to.

When I start to get goosebumps rise on my skin I go back inside. The house is quiet except for the sound of Peeta upstairs. I walk into the kitchen and can't help but smile guiltyily, because it is actually quite funny. The kitchen is fine except for the oven which is completely disintegrated. There is the smell of something artificial burning and I scrunch my nose up.

"I'll have to get a new one" I hear Peeta say from behind me. I turn around and lean against the doorframe.

"I think you might have to" I murmur as I take in his wet hair and clean face. "Where did you go?" I ask as I suddenly start thinking about where Peeta went this afternoon.

"When?" Peeta asks confused and I shrug as I walk back over to the couh and pick up the blanket.

"This afternoon" I say and he sighs. "No where, I promise I'll tell you when the time is right, I don't even know if-Nevermind" he says quickly as he runs a hand through his hand.

I sigh defeated "i'm going to sleep" I say and Peeta nods. I go to settle down on the couch but Peeta stops me.

"You can have the bed"

"Peeta" I say exasperatedly, I really don't want to go through this again.

"I'm serious Katniss, I'll take the couch" he says as he stretches out on the cushions. I roll my eyes angrily as I stomp up the stairs to Peeta's bedroom, making a bigger deal out of this than I have to.

I curl up in Peeta's bed but I don't fall asleep. I toss and turn for the rest of the night. I can't stop thinking about everything. How unusually nice Peeta has been to me.

This thought makes me uneasy. What if Peeta isn't really the nice guy he is showing me. What would a rich town boy want with a homeless seam rat who has no family. I feel my eyes begin to water and I sniff back the tears. _Do not cry. Your not worth crying over._

What does Peeta really want with me? I'll have to leave tomorrow. Take my bag of small possessions and go back to the woods, somewhere different where he will never find me.

Me and him, him and me. We can never work. We are from different worlds.

I sob as I push down any inkling of feelings I might of had in my body towards Peeta Mellark. The golden boy. The man who saved my life. The world is cruel. Nobody in this world is that nice, it must be an act.

I don't sleep at all for the rest of the night. As soon as I see the morning rays peeking through the curtain; I scramble out of the bed and walk across the hall and into the bathroom.

I can't help but gasp when I look in the mirror. I look a ghastly mess. My hair is ratty and sticking up everywhere and my eyes are rimmed red from all the crying. I wish Prim was here. If she was here I could talk to her about Peeta, Prim would know what to do, my little duck was always the smart one of us Everdeen sisters.

I quickly rebraid my hair and splash some cold water on my face. I look better at least with my hair normal but my eyes are still stained with red.

I sigh as I turn around and walk downstairs. I can smell something really good and I try not to let it distract me.

"Morning" Peeta says cheerily as he pushes me down into a chair at the kitchen table. He then places a large plate of cheese buns infront of me.

"I made your breakfast" he says "sorry they were made in the microwave, since I no longer have an oven."

"Um thats fine" I say as I pick up a cheese bun and bite into it. Microwaved or not; these things are still the best food I've ever eaten.

"So what are you going to do today?" Peeta asks me, "I have to go to work again."

I swallow the bite of the bread I had in my mouth before speaking slowly. I'm not a very good liar and I'll bet Peeta can see right though anything I try to pull.

"Uh nothing much, I'll probably just hang around here for the day again" I say quietly and he nods slowly before turning around and heading for the stairs.

"Well i'm just gonna go get ready. Make yourself at home" he says with a wave of his hand over his shoulder.

And despite everything I try to hold back the feeling. I can't help but have a sense of dread and feel guilty about abandoning Peeta and returning to a different spot in the woods.

Somewhere he will hopefully never find me. But a part of me wishes he will , again.


	14. Chapter 14

That day while Peeta is at work I grab my bag and attempt to make a run for it. I get out the door and into the cool winter air when I realize I should probably leave a note for him. I don't want him to worry or something and come looking for me. He needs to know.

I turn around and walk back inside, shuffling through the kitchen cupboard until I come across a notepad and a red pen. I don't really want to use red, but I don't have time to continue looking further.

Dear Peeta,

Thank you so much for all that you have done for me since we met. I don't understand what your true intentions were behind your kindness; but I suspect that no man could ever naturally emit such justice. I don't want to just run away like this, but thats all I can ever seem to do. I run from everything, and this, it's out of the usual for me.

I don't want to burden you with my troubles. I don't want to wake you with my nightmares and my sobs as I cry for my family. You don't deserve to be held back by that. Don't come looking for me. I'll be okay.

I'm sorry,

Katniss

Ps. I hope you don't mind, I'm taking that jacket you gave me ages ago.

I feel a tear roll down my face and I huff angrily and wipe it from my face. Why am I crying? It's not that sad, i'm not that kind of girl. I storm out of the house after leaving the note on the kitchen bench.

I wrap the jacket I took around my body tightly to block the wind from chilling my skin and bones. Well, what little skin I have. The walk to the woods is surprisingly quick, considering how long it usually takes. I suppose time goes faster when your mind is consumed with thoughts, reeling in circles.

When I meet the woods edge I don't enter at the same spot I usually do. I continue walking until there is another small gap in the trees and I turn into the covering of trees. I take one last, fleeting glance back at the road leading to town, before shaking my head to clear the thought.

You will never belong there. This is where you belong, in the woods.

Before I can get any further than ten metres into the woods I hear a scream, an earpeircing scream and my head snaps up in the direction I heard it. I hear it again and I start sprinting into the woods, my instincts following the scream.

I run past trees and branches that cling to my clothes and hair until I burst out into an open clearing. My eyes scan the grass until they land on two people on the ground near the frozen lake.

I anxiously run over to then but halt in my tracks when I am about ten metres away from them. It's Ellen and Finnick. I try to back away unnoticed but Finnick catches my eyes at the moment and waves me over. I walk slowly over, trying to delay time as much as possible.

"Hey Katniss, what are you doing out here?" He asks me and I shake my head.

"Nothing i'm fine" I mumble and he nods obviously sensing I don't want to talk about it. I turn to see Ellen soaking wet, her hair dripping down her face.

"What happened to you?" I ask.

"I fell through the ice" she says and I look towards the lake to see there is; in fact a gapping hole in the layer of ice.

"Oh. Was that you who screamed?" I ask as I fiddle with the strap on my worn out backpack.

"Uh yeah. We were just about to head home. Do you want to come back with us?" She asks.

"Oh no, I don't want to...i'll just...i'm gonna go" I say awkwardly as I back away. Finnick however, is much too quicky for me. Because he is already standing up and holding my arm; preventing me from running away.

"No, your coming with us" he says sternly and for some reason panic sets in. Does he know about me not having a home? Did they somehow find out?

"Really Finnick i'm fine" I try to persuade him.

"Katniss shut up and just come with us" he says as he pulls me along while holding Ellen's hand. I huff in annoyance, well there goes my plan to run away.

Later on once Ellen has warmed up from her fall in the lake; we sit in silence around the coffee table. I hold a mug of hot chocolate in my hand and I take a small sip once the silence becomes too awkward.

There is a sharp knock at the door which brings all moments of silence to an end. My eyes widen as I look up frantically. Ellen walks over to the door and looks through the small glass hole.

"It's Peeta" she whispers and I jump up from the couch.

"I'm not here!" I say in a loud whisper, trying to show her that I don't want Peeta to know i'm here. Ellen gives me a confused look but when Peeta knocks again she shoos me into a cupboard and closes the door.

I can see through the crack a small sliver of light and I press my right eye up against it so I can see a tiny bit of the lounge room. I watch as Peeta comes storming in and starts pacing back and forth. His hands running through his hair.

"Are you sure you haven't seen her?" He asks and his voice sounds weak.

"Peeta i'm sure, I haven't seen her since last week" Ellen replies calmly "I'm sure she's fine."

"She's not f- god Annie what am I going to do? Shes out there all alone again. I just-" Peeta trails off as he runs his hands over his face, which is red from crying and stressing out.

"Peeta don't you go after her" Finnick says, standing up and taking a hold on his upper arm.

"She's a grown woman, she can look after herself" he says.

"Not out there she can't!" Peeta explodes, his hands flying up in the air. "Finnick she's dying already, and now shes out in the middle of nowhere. There's a massive winter storm heading our way tonight. I need to go find her." He says and he is already out the door and running away.

"Peeta!" Ellen calls from the doorway but he doesn't listen. I lean back against the wall of the cupboard; trying to control my breathing. It only takes a few more seconds after that for the truth to sink in.

Peeta is out in the middle of the woods looking for me, and there is a winter storm coming tonight. I push the door of the cupboard open and snatch up my jacket from the couch.

"Katniss where are you-"

"To find Peeta" I cut Finnick off as I run out the door. I can just make out Peeta turning the corner; far up ahead of me as I take off into a sprint. I just hope I reach him before the storm hits.


	15. Chapter 15

I had found Peeta just as the first few drops of rain were starting to fall. His golden blond locks were now a mess from him running his hands through them. When I called out his name his whole face had lit up, like I had just made life a whole lot easier. I probably had, come to think of it.

He had stummbled towards me and pulled me into a tight hug, something I was completely not used to, as much as it made me uncomfortable, there was something about the way his strong arms held me; they made me feel safe.

It was then that the cold splash of water landed on my cheek. Peeta had hesitantly reached up and brushed it away as he looked up at the sky with worry.

"Come, I know a place" I had said as I grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind me. When we reached the cave, the rain was pouring down and the wind had picked up.

We crawled into the cave and huddled together to keep warm. And that is how we had fallen asleep, me wrapped in Peeta's arms with my head resting on his chest.

It was the first crack of thunder that had jolted me awake. Thunder storms usually happen in the summertime, but I guess this was one of those odd things that happen in the year.

And so thats how we got here now. Me lying awake in Peeta's arms while he sleeps soundly, his grip on me is firm, as though he doesn't want me to escape again. And I don't know if I could run away a second time. I turn my gaze from the dark cave wall to Peeta's face, his blue eyes are closed. His blond locks are waving down across his face and I have the urge to reach up and brush then off his face. He looks peaceful, so much younger in sleep.

And being so close to him I now recognise another scent than the sweet vanilla and dill. There is a scent of oil paints, and something thats so distinctly...Peeta.

I wonder why he smells of oil paints, I mean, I know he has the vanilla and dill from working in the bakery his whole life. Does he run an art shop somewhere off in the middle of nowhere that I don't know about.

Just as the first sun rays are starting to peek through the rain and grey clouds, Peeta begins to stir in his sleep. His eyes flutter open not long after and I am met with the deep blue, the colour that somehow calms me.

"Hey" I whisper as I sit up from his arms.

"Hey. Are you really here?" He asks me and I feel a frown on my face.

"Of course. Why would you ask that?"

"I just..I was so scared when you ran off. I wanted make sure you were still here, with me" he murmurs and I feel something twist in my stomach.

"I won't run away again. If I can help it" I say and his eyes catch mine, holding them in place.

"Do you promise?" He asks and I nod softly.

"Yes, I will stay." I notice how close we are becoming. Peeta's hand is resting on my cheek and somehow my hands have ended up clutching his t-shirt. I can't think about anything, his eyes are making it impossible for me to focus.

Peeta leans down slowly and I find myself forgetting about everything that is about to happen and has happened in the past.

Just as his lips are about to brush against mine there is a loud crack of thunder and a flash of lightning. We jump apart, guilty of what we were almost caught doing. Peeta looks down at the ground "i'm sorry I should never have-"

"Peeta stop." I cut him off as I realize what we almost did. I don't want to kiss Peeta. I can't, not with everything going on. "Lets just get out of here" I say.

"But the storm" Peeta says and I realize that my plan to seperate from Peeta will not work. The storm is still pouring down too heavily for us to even consider walking back to Peeta's house.

"Hey it's ok" Peeta says reaching out to me.

"Can we just forget it!" I snap sharply and I see his face fall dramatically. Something twinges in my chest but I ignore it. I don't have time for frivolous activities.

I lean back against the cave wall, the stone is cool against my head, relaxing the headache I can fell coming on.

"I'm sorry" I whisper "i'm just not ready for that kind of relationship" my voice is small.

Peeta crawls over to me and leans against the wall next to me. "It's okay, we just got caught up in the moment thats all" he says "just friends?" He asks.

I nod "just friends" I confirm. But something churns inside me, so Peeta only wants to be friends, maybe I had just misread the moment and he had been only caught up like me, no true feelings other than friendship.

"Do you have your phone?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah, but there's no service, why?" Peeta asks.

"Ellen would be worried, and Finnick; we kind of just ran off on them" I say with a small laugh and I feel his body shake with laughter next to me.

"Yeah" he says trailing off as we edge into a comfortable silence.

The rain and wind against the roof of the cave filling the silence with perfect calming waves of sound. "How long do you think the storm will last?" I ask softly.

"Hopefully not much longer" Peeta says and I feel his hand pull the band out of the end of my braid. His hands start to unravel my hair. At first I begin to protest but then I realize it actually feels kind of nice, so I let him be.

His hands run through my hair and I am surprised at how much it relaxes me. And what he says next, makes me feel even more surprised, yet somehow comforted.

"But, Katniss Everdeen, I wouldn't mind being stuck in this cave with you for longer than the storms end."


	16. Chapter 16

in this chapter the italics is a flashback.

Peeta and I spend the day hiding out in the Cave, protected from the stormy weather. The rain and wind pelts against the cave walls and roof, creating a sweet melody but also giving the sound an angry touch. Neither of us mention the almost kiss again and it is almost like things are back to normal with us. Not that we had any sense of normal beforehand.

"I need to get to work tomorrow" Peeta mentions late in the afternoon.

I look out to the stormy grey sky "should we try to make a run for it?" I ask hesitantly.

"I think we might have to" Peeta sighs running a hand through his messy hair. I stand up, having to crouch a little from the low roof of the stone.

"Let's go" I say motioning for Peeta to follow me.

"Do you even know the way out of here?" Peeta asks as he shields his face from the rain with his arm. I roll my eyes at him; I know these woods better than the back of my hand.

"Of course I do" I scoff "I've been living here for over a year" and I immediately regret mentioning that when Peeta's face visibly falls. "Peeta" I warn.

"no Katniss, I just can't believe you had to live like that, you of all people" he murmurs and I nod my head slightly, brushing back a loose strand of my hair that had fallen from my braid, I had re-braided it after Peeta and I had both fallen asleep from his fingers gently running through my loose waves of raven hair.

We start the walk back to the main town and my hair is already plastered to my face, slick from the rain. I look over at a very dishevelled Peeta to see that he is completely in the same boat; with his usually waving blond hair now a dark blond and flat against his head.

We don't talk for most of the way. A lot of the time I forget he is walking beside me. I am looking up at the sky, the raindrops falling like pins against my face, the grey clouds stormy and moving fast with the wind.

I trip over a log I didn't see from looking up at the sky, I feel my stomach plummet as I fall towards the ground. I close my eyes tightly waiting for the moment of impact but it never comes. Instead I feel two strong hands seize my under my armpits and steady my when I'm halfway to the ground.

I open my eyes and Peeta pulls me so I'm standing upright. It is now that my mind swivels back to the kiss, we are that close again, my head tilted up slightly and my stormy grey eyes look into his deep blue ones. I am about to pull away when it hits me.

That sweet scent again, the one that is so distinctly Peeta and the oil paints, why oil paints? And the back of my mind is screaming at me to pull away, demanding that I run, because I don't need this right now. But I want to, I don't know where it's coming from but I am drawn to Peeta.

And that's when I remember, Peeta wants to be just friends, I had read him wrong earlier today in the cave. I pull away and it's like the earth has started moving again, time is unfrozen. The storm suddenly starts up again, even though it never really stopped, it did in my mind. Peeta shifts awkwardly and I turn away.

"Come on, let's get moving" I say and I hear him sigh behind me and I know he is running his hands through his hair. We continue walking until I am shivering from the cold.

"Do you want my jacket?" Peeta asks but I shake my head "it won't help, it's soaked" I say.

When we finally reach the main town I am just about ready to collapse on the ground and I think I might have, had it not been for Peeta's steady hand which somehow found its way onto the lower of my back between here and the edge of the woods. It was a small gesture but somehow it kept me standing upright. The warmth from the pressure of his hand was comforting in this storm, in some crazy way. Maybe that's just my homeless mind wheeling though, being craved of friendly or loving touch for most of your life creates such a desire.

"Are we going back to your house?" I ask.

"Yeah, well there's nowhere else to go really" he mumbles and then his hand disappears and its light the whole world has just gone cold again. What are these feelings? Am I going mad? Or just slightly crazy? Does Peeta feel them too because I'm really starting to freak out. I have never experienced anything like it before. It's almost like spending that night in the cave has opened up a whole new set of emotions.

As soon as Peeta has opened the door we trudge inside, our clothes weighed down from the rain.

"Why was your door unlocked?" I ask him; back when my family was alive I know my father never bothered to lock the door. But that was just because we lived in an old seam house.

Peeta runs a hand through his wet hair, "I kind left in a rush when I saw your letter" he says and his face tints the slightest shade of red.

"Oh" my eyes look down to the ground, sensing the awkward shift in the room.

"You go have a shower first" he says and I nod, not bothering to argue again. And then I walk up the stairs, leaving a silent Peeta behind me.

The next day I am awoken to a knock on Peeta's bedroom door. "Come in" I mumble, rubbing the sleep from my eyes tiredly.

"Sorry if I woke you" I hear Peeta say and I lean up against the pillows of Peeta's bed and open my eyes a little.

"That's s'ok" I yawn and he leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm leaving for work now, if you need me you know where I am" he says and I nod sleepily before he smiles at me and walks out, leaving the door open a crack. I lie in bed for another half an hour, procrastinating on whether or not I should actually make the effort to get out of bed.

But something feels off, I can't tell what it is; I can just feel it sinking in my body. Making an empty pit in my stomach. I crawl out of the bed and pull one of Peeta's jackets over my top. I walk down the stairs and into the kitchen where I know a calendar hands on the wall.

My eyes scan it, trying to think of what day it could possibly be. It must be a Monday because it was Peeta's first day back at work this week. And that's when my eyes land on it. The number 14. It jumps out at me like it's trying to tell me something. And my stomach drops when I realize exactly what happened on this day seven years ago.

It was a cloudy day, not necessarily cold, but grey and gloomy. A dark day.

"Katniss don't worry about me, I'll be fine" my little sister rasps. Her voice cracking from the pressure she is undergoing to speak to me. "No prim, shhh" I whisper brushing back her golden locks with my hand. Her pale blue eyes once so full of light and love are now just blank. I can see it already and I know what is going to happen. So does prim, but she's so much stronger than me mentally. She is the only family I have left. The only person I'm sure I truly loved. I don't think I could ever love someone as much as I love prim.

"Prim you're going to be ok" I whisper and I feel my eyes bloom with unshed tears. "You're going to be ok" I cry as I lean down and press a shaky kiss to her forehead, her skin is icy cold. "Katniss, I love you" she whispers "don't let this stop you from life" she says and her eyes water.

"Prim don't, you're not going to die" I cry and I wipe my tears away but they keep coming back. "Your only eight years old Primmy, you can't die yet, please stay with me" I whimper. This is too much for us to go through. "I can't lose you."

"Katniss" she whispers and I grip her hand tightly in my own, her fingers so small and frail.

That's when the nurse and head mistress of the orphanage came bursting into the room. Our mistress grabs my arm and yanks me away from my sister. "Come girl, there's no need for you to be in here any longer" she growls and I yell out through m y tears as my hand is yanked from prims. "prim" I cry and I pull my arm from the mistress' grip and run back over to her, leaning over her bed and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Don't go, please prim don't go!" I cry, "I'm only twelve and your only eight, please don't go!" I beg but I feel myself being lifted up into the air.

"No!" I cry out as I am carried from prims room "I love you Prim, I'll see you soon, I promise" I yell out just before the door slams shut, blocking me out from my baby sister.

I spend the rest of the night crying. Because it's not fair that my Primmy and I had to go through this, our parents dying and now prim is so sick she probably won't recover. I know there is a cure in the capitol but our mistress refuses to send her.

It was the next day, the 14th when the mistress came storming into the bunk room. There are 11 orphan girls in this room. The mattresses are thin and wiry and we have a thin ratty blanket to cover. "Get up you useless girl" she yells as she pulls the blanket off me. "Why are you crying?" she demands and my small body shakes with fear and sadness.

"I w-w-want my momma and d-daddy" I cry and I have never felt so lonely. "Can I s-see Prim?" I sob and her face contorts into one of disgust.

"Prims gone. She died last night" she snaps and I feel as if all the air has been sucked out of my body, my stomach wrenching and my heart aches.

"No" I gasp through my tears "no, prim I didn't get to say goodbye. She can't be gone. She can't!"

"Well she is. And now you need to stop crying" the mistress snaps before storming out. All the others girls stared at me with sorrow and pity in their eyes, "I'm sorry Katniss" one of the other little girls my age whispers and I shrug her off.

I run. I run and I keep running until I reach the meadows end. Where all the dandelions and bright flowers grow and sway in the breeze. I knew that I couldn't afford a proper place to put dear Prim. But here I decided would be better than any place surrounded by other lost ones.

That day I spend drawing up a large rock with prims name on it. My handwriting is shaky, representing any twelve year olds handwriting. I sit the rock under a willow tree and cover the area in flowers. Every year I vow to come back here on this date and hold a small service for Prim.

And that's where I intend to go now. I didn't realize I am crying until I feel the tears streak down my face. I pull Peeta's jacket tightly around me and then head out the front door. Not looking back at all, not even to see if anyone is watching; I make my way down to the meadow, the place where I know Prim lies.


	17. Chapter 17

I slowly walk up to the rock where Prims name is written in shaky handwriting. I gasp back a breath of air, trying to hold back the tears as I sink down to the ground. My heart beating fast, I reach out a shivering hand and run my finger over the rock. The smooth surface holding so many stories and memories. My fingers brush the grass next to the rock and I look up just in time to see some leaves float down to the ground from the willow tree, the breeze soft and whispering.

"Hey Primmy" I murmur and feel the tears prick my eyes. The sun disappears behind a cloud in the sky and everything turns darker, the willows swaying in the wind.

"I've missed you so much" I say and suddenly I want to tell her everything that has happened since I last visited. How kind Peeta has been to me and how I don't know what his real intentions are. And I do, I tell her everything. When I mention the cave when we nearly kissed; the sun emerges from the gloomy clouds and it's almost like Prim is laughing and smiling at how happy she is. How happy she wishes I am.

"I'm so scared" I say in a small voice "this isn't like anything thats ever happened before Prim. Even when mum and dad were alive" I sniff and wipe my eyes. Oh how I wish she was here, Prim would know what to do. "But Prim you have to meet Peeta. He's so nice and kind to me. One day if I can trust him enough, I promise I'll bring him here and introduce you guys." I sniff as I wipe away another tear fall.

"You would love him so much, you guys are both so alike. He is so hard to dislike, it's insane. People were always like that with you. You could charm your way into anyone's heart couldn't you Primmy?" I laugh at the memories or Prim winning over free sweets with her puppy dog eyes.

I lay down beside her under the willow as I cry. My tears sliding down my face, over my nose and dripping onto the grass. I curl up in a ball as the pain rips through my heart, why does my life have to be like this. I can't even trust anyone anymore. Everything is so hard, it would be so much better if I just had Prim here with me.

Slowly my eyes grow heavy with the tears and sleep and I let myself fall under. My head rests on the grass next to the rock, the loose wisps of hair that have escaped my braid fly around my head in the breeze but I don't care right now as I try to imagine a life with Prim and my parents behind my closed eyes when I drift off to sleep.

"Oh Katniss" I hear a voice sigh, their voice is full of relief and worry. I hear a sniff and I open my eyes a crack, my eyelids still heavy with sleep. I almost gasp when I see the sky is nearly dark; how long was I asleep for? My eyes close again, I want to stay here with Prim forever, even though it's starting to get cold, the wind slicing through my jacket.

I feel two strong arms slide underneath me, their owner probably the person who sighed my name with such despair and longing. I want to flinch away from their touch but it's so warm here in their arms. Unconciously I snuggle my head against the persons chest and bury my head in their shirt. I feel their arms tighten around me as they start to walk. I should be scared, I know that; but something about this persons hold on me is calming. Their touch brings a pleasant chill to my skin. I drift back off to sleep, dozing in and out of fantasy lands, my dreams are short and don't make much sense; just colours and voices.

I wake up again and i'm still wrapped in the persons arms but they are no longer walking, they are sitting and I am curled up in their lap as I sleep. I want to open my eyes but i'm still so tired, my eyelids refuse to move. I am thrown into another dream, this one however, I can remember actually happening.

 _"You stupid girl!" The mistress snaps as she slaps my face. Tears sting my eyes as my tiny hand comes up to cradle my cheek._

 _"Stop it!" I yell at her, my voice cracking at the end. Her eyes burn into mine and her sharp eyebrows raise._

 _"When will you learn?" She growls as she takes a step towards me. I stumble backwards on my small legs. "Your sister is never coming back. Ever. Do you understand?" She snaps and I nod my head furiously._

 _"Do you?" She presses, her eyes burning holes into mine._

 _"Y-y-yes" I stutter and I try to hold back the tears. I will be strong, i'm not some little girl she can throw around. Thats what I tell myself when she starts walking towards me. I stumble backwards until my back is pressed against the cool stone wall; my face shaking with the effort to mask how scared I am._

 _The mistress advances on me, her eyes narrowed and her hand raised. "No, please" I beg._

 _"You stupid girl"_

"Katniss" I hear a faraway voice murmur

 _"Can never do anything right" she takes a step closer to me._

"Katniss please" the voice comes closer.

 _"No, please don't hurt me" I whimper._

"Katniss wake up. Please wake up."

I open my eyes with a gasp as I search around frantically. My eyes lock with a pair of worried blue eyes and I know exactly who they belong to. I could never forget that colour. "Peeta" I breath and then realize that I am crying. I wipe at my eyes as I feel my face flush with embarrassment. "I'm sorry" I whisper and I notice that I am curled up in his lap. So he came and brought me home. Those were his strong arms.

I whimper and he sighs "oh Katniss" he murmurs as he pulls me in close to him. I bury my face in his shirt and breath in his sweet scent, it immediately calms me down and my crys change to small sobs and gasps as Peeta rubs a hand in circles on my back.

"I'm sorry" I sniffle as I clutch at his shirt.

"It's okay, I promised I would always be here for you and I plan on keeping that promise" he says and I feel like crying all over again just at how kind his words are.

"Nobody's ever done something like that for me before" I whisper and I can hear the pain in his voice when he talks next.

"You deserve so much more than that" he says.

"Thank you" I say quietly and I feel him bury his head in my hair and breath deeply. Is he smelling my hair? Or just breathing in my scent like what I do to him."

"I probably smell awful" I whisper because I've been outside all day. And I here him chuckle softly at my words.

"No you smell amazing" he says and I feel myself blushing "you smell like pine and snow and the woods" he murmurs and I feel my face flaming.

"Thats awkward" I say and smile alittle.

"No it's beautiful" he says and I look up at him, his eyes lock onto mine and he smiles widely.

"What do you want Peeta Mellark?" I ask curiously, because I really need to know why he is so nice to me, why he pays me so much attention when nobody even bothered a second glance at me in the past.

"I want you to be happy and healthy. And I know that it sounds so Cliché but I honestly can't help it" he blurts out quickly and I feel myself smiling at his words. We go silent for a few minutes. Before I realize the closeness of our bodies, how I am curled up on his lap and his arms are wrapped tightly around me.

"I'm hungry" I announce and his chest moves under my head as he laughs.

"Of course you are" he says as he lifts me off his lap and places me onto the couch before walking off to the kitchen; throwing me a crooked smile over his shoulder.

I slowly get up off the couch and make my way into the kitchen and sit on one on the bar stools. Peeta has his back to me as he bends down and places a tray with cheese buns into the oven. When he sees me standing there he starts with a gasp and then laughs "I didn't see you there" his eyes twinkle under the florescent lights.

"Sorry" I look down at the oven, where the cheese buns are already starting to turn a golden brown.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make them fresh, but I can always do up another batch if you want them made from scratch today" Peeta starts to ramble as he gestures to the sweet smelling bread in the oven.

"Peeta dont be silly, this is enough, too much really" I try to convince him. It doesn't work.

"Katniss if your not happy with this I am more than hap-"

"Peeta" I cut him off and his eyes snap to mine. "When your used to eating almost nothing everyday, sometimes nothing for several days on end; this is a luxury" and then I clamp my hand over my mouth; as though I had just uttered a curse.

Peetas gaze is far away and his face gives away how hurt he is by what I said.

"Peeta i'm so sorry" I whisper and he shakes his head slowly as his eyes full with pain. "Honestly it wasn't that bad" I try to turn the page around but it's too late, i've let it slip. "I thought you knew, I mean I was homeless" I try to make Peeta see my side.

"That doesn't make it right" he snaps and I feel my eyes widen in shock. "I'm sorry" he starts pacing "I didn't mean to yell, it's just, I hate that you had to go through that" he walks around the counter and stands infront of me. "But I promise you Katniss, that as long as you live you wont ever have to go through that again."

His hands reach up to cup my face. "Why" I whisper "why are you so nice to me, just tell me! Do you need me to cook and clean for you in return for your kindness. Because I cannot think of any other way I can possibly repay you" I say and his eyes close for a second before he sighs and opens them again. The deep blue staring into my grey eyes.

"You don't owe me anything, but this is a conversation for another time, right now you need to eat" he says as he takes his hands away from my face and walks towards the oven. My face feel cold and lost without his strong hands on my cheeks, I try not to let myself think this for too long.

Peeta slides a plate of cheese buns and a glass of water infront of me, and places another plate for him. I inhale the sweet scent of the melted cheese and baked dill. "Thank you" I take a bun and rip it in half; steam rises rapidly from the middle where the bread is soft and gooey with cheese. I rip a large chunk off and practically moan at how good it tastes.

"No matter how many times I eat these, I will never get sick of them" I say through a mouthfull. Peeta chuckles and his eyes twinkle with his smile.

"I'm glad you like them, I have something else I made you" he mentions as he gets up and takes a container down from the pantry cupboard. He takes out something that resembles a biscuit but it's crumbly looking and an exuberant golden colour. It looks amazing and suddenly the cheese buns are forgotten on my plate as I sit impatiently in my seat for this new treat Peeta has baked me. He hands me one of the golden biscuits and I bite into it; failing to hold back yet another moan.

The biscuit is crumbly and soft and it explodes with the taste of butter as soon as it hits my lips. The fatty goodness of this dessert is almost too much to handle. "It's called shortbread" Peeta explains with a cheeky smile dancing on his face. "We used to make them all the time in the bakery" he says.

"These are so amazing" I exclaim as I finish the first one and start on the second block of buttery biscuit.

Peeta starts washing up the dishes but I immediatly jump up from my seat, stuffing the last of the shortbread in my mouth, and take the soapy plate from his hands. "I can do these" I say.

"No it's fine I can do them" Peeta takes the plate back off me.

"Peeta it's the least I can do, honestly" I say as I take the plate back again and push him out of the kitchen. I start to wash all the dishes and the tray Peeta used for the cheese buns. Once i've finished I dry my hands on a tea towel and drap the towel over the dishes in the draining rack; they can be put away later.

I make my way out of the kitchen and try to find where Peeta has gone. I call out his name a few times until I hear his feet thumping down the stairs. "Hey, uh do you want to go hang out with Ellen and Fin? I have a...uh...appointment...yeah" he trails off at the end and I eye him suspiciously.

"Where do you keep going?" I ask and he shrugs.

"I'll tell you when it's time" and I huff annoyed.

"Yeah sure I'll go to Ellen's and Fins. I haven't seen them in a while anyway" I say and you can hear how annoyed I am. I don't like being kept in the dark. But then again, it really isn't any of my business.

"Ok, look i'm sorry I just-"

"Peeta it's fine really" I assure him "just let me get a coat. Do you mind if I borrow one of yours?" I ask shyly and he laughs.

"No of course not, go upstairs and take your pick."

I run up the stair and into Peeta's room, the room which I have been sleeping in, and pull my favourite jacket from the cupboard. I wrap it around me tightly and then stumble back down the stairs, as I try not to trip over. "I'm ready" I announce and Peeta smiles widely and blushes slightly when his eyes roam over me.

"What?" I question with a raise of my eyebrow. He shakes his head with a small chuckle.

"Nothing, you just look cute wearing my clothes, you should do it more often" he says and now I feel myself blushing.

"Well I don't really have any other clothes" I say awkwardly and immediatly regret mentioning it. Peeta face drops at my words and I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"Do you want me to cancel today and I can take you shopping?" He asks and I am already shaking my head before he has finished.

"No you said this thing was important, I'll be fine for a few more days or whatever" I start walking towards the door. "Lets go" I say over my shoulder and I am suddenly excited to see Ellen and Finnick again.

Peeta follows me out and together to walk to their house. I don't know the way but I follow Peeta and soon we end up outside a familiar looking house. I have only ever been here once after I tried to run away. "So are Ellen and Finnick married?" I ask as we walk up to the front door.

"Uh no, they aren't even engaged they just live together and all that" Peeta says and I nod.

"Do they both work with you at the school?"

"No Finnick works there as the sport teacher but Ellen is a nurse at the local hospital, she just spends a lot of time at the school" Peeta explains as he knocks sharply on the door.

We wait a few seconds before we hear yelling inside.

"You get the door!"

"No you get it!"

"I'm busy"

"So am I!"

I glance at Peeta and see him smirking and shaking his head "they always fight like this" he says and I laugh. The door flings open and both Ellen and Finnick are standing there.

"Oh hey guys" Ellen says and she grabs my coat sleeve and pulls me I to the house "I haven't seen you in a few days" she says. "And Peeta! Where have you been?" She exclaims "you go to work and then you disappear, I feel like I haven't seen you properly in _ages_ " she exaggerates the ages with a huff.

"I've been busy " Peeta says as he hugs her quickly "and i'm afraid I cannot stay here today, i'm just dropping Katniss around, I have a few things to do."

I sigh because I know he's not going to tell me what he's doing. "Peeta just go already" I say and roll my eyes.

"Ok ok i'm going" he says "can I at least have a hug?" I glare at him as he stands there with his arms open and a puppy dog look on his face.

"Ugh fine" I grumble as I step forward and into his arms. I try not to look too happy about it, because I don't want him to know how much I enjoy his hugs, and I don't really want to admit that to myself either, if I can help it.

I can smell the oil paints, vanilla and dill and that other scent, the one that is so distinctly Peeta. I breath it in and hope that nobody else noticed it. I close my eyes and focus on the tingling in my body from his touch. When we finally pull away from each other I feel cold but I brush off the feeling.

"Have fun" I say "wherever your going" and he nods.

"I will, see you Katniss" he goes to walk out the door but Finnick clears his throat loudly.

"Yeah Peeta goodbye to you too. You know Ellen and I are here as well, not just Katniss" he laughs and Peeta blushes "uhhh see you guys" and then he ducks out the door and we all fall into laughter.

"So Kitty Kat what do you wanna do today?" Finnick says with an evil glint in his eye.


	18. Chapter 18

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing just seems to want to work. Well today is one of those days. Finnick and Ellen are constantly trying to get me out of this so called 'funk' I'm in but I won't have any of it. I'm feeling closed in and I have no idea what it is that is making me lose my mind. Actually that's a lie, Peeta Mellark. That is the answer to my problems. I can't get where he has been sneaking off too out of my mind.

"Maybe we should go down to the park" I hear Ellen say as my eyes focus on the television. I don't know what it is that is playing but I don't understand what is going on at all; but then again maybe that's just because I'm not paying proper attention.

"Yeah I think that would be a good idea" I hear Finnick murmur and then suddenly the television zaps off with a buzz. I whip my head around to look at the offending couple perched on the arm of the couch.

"Katniss come on, please lets just go outside for a little" Ellen begs and I sigh. I don't want to give in to her and Finnick but I must admit going outside sounds nice.

"Fine" I sigh again and stand up from my spot on the couch. Ellen claps her hands and jumps up from the couch, her face lit up with a smile. Finnick gives her a high five and I feel like rolling my eyes at the childishness of their actions. They are older than me, Ellen by a year and Finnick is two years older than me; the same age as Peeta.

We make our way out the front door and Finnick locks it behind us. Ellen grabs finnicks hand and they walk a few paces ahead of me as we make our way down to the park. I have never been to the town park before and as soon as we get their I realize why; the whole place is full of families with their children running around the place. Little girls with their hair in braids and pigtails, chasing after their baby brothers and sisters while playing and making the most of the first sunny day of the winter. The sun being out is a reminder that winter is almost over and spring is about to set in.

Ellen and Finnick walk over to a large oak tree and together they settle next to each other on the grass, their backs leaning against the tree. Suddenly I feel left out, like they are here to babysit me and not actually wanting to spend time with me. But then again I guess Peeta did want them to watch over me.; I think he was afraid I would trey and run away again.

But iits not like I don't know my way around the woods or anything because I do, the woods have always been my safe haven. But I'm not so sure anymore. "Katniss are you going to sit down?" Ellen asks me and pats the spot next to her.

I take notice that they have picked a particularly shady spot under the large tree, it's branches hanging far overhead and blocking out majority of the suns warm rays.

I shake my head "no i'm just going to walk around for abit, make the most of the sun." Ellen gives me a sad look, obviously taking notice of my discomfort at being around such a happy couple who shouldn't be wasting their time making sure I don't run away again. I wander around the park for awhile before I suddenly get the urge to just completely let myself go and relax. I want to feel the outdoors again, just like a did a couple of weeks again before Peeta insisted on me staying at his house.

I slide off my shoes and socks, leaving no time to waste as I wriggle my toes into the soft, warm grass. The sun beats down on my back and I know if I take Peeta's jacket off I will be too cold. However with the jacket on, the sun soaks through the dark material, warming up my whole body. I sigh with delight as I lay down and close my eyes.

I focus on the sun's rays gliding over my face and keeping me warm, the first warm day in three whole months, no wonder everyone is outside today.

I am just about to drift off into a deep sleep when I feel an insistent poking at my cheek. The hand is small and clammy and I peak one eye open and am met with the face of a little girl. She looks to be about the age of three and her blond hair is falling in soft waves, she has half of it tied up in a blue ribbon. Her eyes are sparkling hazel and her lips a deep natural red.

"Hello" she says in a sweet voice. I sit upright and brush some hair back from my face.

"Um hi" I say as my eyes search the park to possibly find out what family she has come from. "Are you lost?" I ask and her light curls bob against her head as she gives a laugh and shakes her head.

"Nope, my mummy's over there" she says pointing to a woman who has blond hair and a pretty face, from what I can see at this distance she looks extremely beautiful.

"I wanted to come tell you you have very pweety hair" she says with a smile as her hand reaches out and brushes at the top of my head. I know I should be annoyed or something but this little girl has so much charm I can't help but smile back at her.

"Thank you" I say "what's your name?" I ask and she thinks for a moment, her finger resting on her chin.

"My names Audrey" she laughs.

"That's a beautiful name. Mine's Katniss" I say and her face screws up in confusion.

"That's a strange name" she murmurs and I can't help but laugh.

"Katniss is a plant" I explain To her and her eyes light up again but she soon has to raise her hand to block out the sun.

"I like plants, I also like your name" she says. "Can you play with me?" She asks.

"Oh" I look over at her mother who is reading a book. "Would your mum mind?" I ask and she shakes her head, her curls once again waving around.

"No she doesn't mind" she stands up and grabs my hand. "Come on Katniss" she complains as she tries to pull me up off the ground. Usually I would be extremely annoyed at something like this happening; but i can't help but like this bouncing little girl. I heave myself up from the ground and Audrey takes me hand and pulls me towards the playground.

As it is nearing the end of the day there are less kids on the play equiptment and the sun is starting it's downfall in the sky. Audrey is just about to climb up the plastic steps to the slide when she spots Ellen and Finnick off in the distance. She yells out in delight and sprints off in their direction. I run after her, wondering why she ran off to the lovebirds under the oak tree.

"Finnie!" She squeals as Finnick scoops her up and lifts her high into the air.

"Hey Audrey, I see you've been annoying Katniss for awhile" he smirks in my direction. I look between them confused.

Finnick must notice because he sets Audrey down and turns towards her mother. "Hey Delly!" He calls out and the ladies head snaps up in our direction. She smiles widely when she sees who called her name as she gets up from her spot on the grass and comes over to us, scooping up Audrey as she goes.

"Hey guys how are you doing?" She asks in a chirpy voice.

"Not bad" Finnick shrugs "ah Katniss this is Delly, Peeta's sister-in-law, she's married to his older brother Simon" he says and i smile at her.

"It's nice to meet you" i say and i can't help but internally gag at how polite i sound, i'm never usually that nice. "So Audrey is Peeta's niece?" I ask and Delly nods enthusiastically.

"Yes, oh she loves Peeta so much, sometimes more than I think she loves me" Delly talks a million miles a minute as she laughs between sentences. I was right before in saying that she was beautiful, the perfect image of a rich town man's wife.

"When can we go see unca Peeta?" Audrey asks and Delly tickles her under her chin.

"Soon i promise." She laughs and I can't help but wonder if this woman ever stops laughing and has a dull moment, maybe it's just the sun. Sunny days can bring the strangeness out of people sometimes.

"Well we must be going now" Delly says. "It was nice to finally meet you Katniss" she chirps as she goes and gives Annie and Finnick a hug and then startled me by wrapping her arms tightly around me. I return the hug by giving her an awkward pat on the back and I feel my face flush.

"I'll see you guys soon" she calls out over her shoulder as she grabs Audrey's hand and walks back off towards where all their bags are.

"We should probably start heading back now too" Ellen says as she picks up her bag from the ground. "We can have dinner ready for when Peeta gets back from wherever he is."

I follow along behind them as we make the trip back home. And it is then when we are walking past the main way to the seam when I spot him. I freeze in my tracks as I watch his figure comes closer and closer. When he finally sees me watching him he stops dead and stares at me. Our eyes lock and Ellen and Finnick keep walking, oblivious to the fact that I have just caught Peeta walking out of the seam.

What would Peeta have been doing all day in the seam? Something that he can't tell me yet? Thats when I notice Peeta has started walking towards me again. When he is no more than a metre away from me i breath out a sigh.

"Later" he sighs as he starts to walk after Finnick and Ellen. I see a piece of paper float down to the ground, it is obvious it has fallen out of his back pocket. When Peeta has walked abit further ahead I can't help but slowly approach the paper. I know I shouldn't sneak into his business but my curiosity gets the better of me as I bend down and slowly pick the pamphlet up.

My hands shake and I accidently let out an audible gasp when I see where Peeta has gotten this pamphlet from. My mind whirs around in circles and I suddenly feel dizzy. Why? That is the only thought I can think of. Why would Peeta be sneaking off here? And I can only think of a few logical reasons.

NO HE DON'T LOVES ANOTHER GIRL ,

NO HE DON'T JUST LIKE HER ,

HE'S DOING SOMETHING GOOD FOR HER .

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS , UPDATE TOMORROW


	19. Chapter 19

The rest of the walk home I can't concentrate on anything except the pounding in my head and chest. Why? The thought makes me dizzy? What is Peeta prying into there? When we finally reach Annie and Finnick's house I shove the pamphlet into my pocket, making sure it's well hidden. All through the dinner that Annie made I stare at my plate, pushing my food around in circles.

"Katniss are you alright? I hear Annie ask and I look up to see everyone staring at me.

"Um yeah I'm fine" I say and scoop a potato up onto my fork. Annie and Finnick go back to their conversation, my lie obviously convincing them. Peeta on the other hand is staring at me with concern. I look down at my plate and avoid eye contact with him. The rest of the dinner passes by slowly, I notice Peeta doesn't talk much and instead looks at me, his eyes laced with worry. It's starting to get on my nerves and I do my best to ignore him. But eventually the staring wins me over.

"Will you stop that?" I say standing up from my spot at the table. Everyone's eyes snap to me as I glare incredulously at Peeta.

"Uh what?" he asks dumbly, oblivious to what I am talking about.

"Stop with the staring" I yell gesturing to him with my hand. He looks completely startled and I sigh running a hand over my braid. "I'm sorry" I mutter "for yelling."

"Katniss are you sure you're alright?" Annie asks me again and I nod.

"Yeah I'm fine, honestly just tired" I really just want to go home. Did I just call Peeta's house my home? No. I'm just staying there for now. But I'm not sure if that's what I want or if it's what I'm trying to convince myself of.

"Can we leave now please" I ask Peeta and he looks over to Annie and Finnick. They nod and stand up from the table.

"Well thanks for coming" Finnick says and Annie smiles "feel free to come over whenever you want Katniss" she says and I smile tightly.

Peeta says his goodbyes to them while I wait at the door, they start up a conversation about some new school test or something and I sigh with frustration. Too impatient to wait I open the door and make my way down the front steps.

The air has turned chilly with the night air, the sun having gone across the other side of the world. I wrap my arms around my middle and start the walk home. I don't know where I'm going but I assume Peeta will notice I'm gone and follow me soon. As if on cue I hear a door open and then slam shut.

"Hey Katniss wait up!"

I sigh and stop in my tracks and wait for him to catch up. Once he's next to me we keep walk we don't talk for a while and then he obviously can't stand the silence any longer.

"How was your day?" he asks cautiously, knowing I don't want to talk right now.

"It was alright, but I would appreciate if you told your friends I don't need to be babysat, I'm not going to run away and if I did, that's none of any of your business."

"I'm sorry Katniss, I really am. I just don't want you to leave" he says nervously and I sigh.

"Its ok, I'm sorry too."

"What for?" he asks and that's when I realise I don't actually know what I'm apologising for.

"Uh nothing really, snapping I guess" I shrug and he laughs. We continue our walk home and once we pass Haymitch's bar I suddenly realise that with everything going on I have completely forgotten to show up to my shifts.

"Oh my god" I gasp and quickly start to make my way over to the bar.

"Hey where are you going?" I hear Peeta call out and then his quick footsteps following me. I burst through the doors and several people turn to look at me as the door bangs against the back wall.

"Haymitch!" I call out and I hear a grumble from out the back. I can hear his heavy, clunky footsteps before I see him. He emerges from the back room, his hair a ratty mess and he looks as though he has already had quite a few drinks. But then again when hasn't he?

"Sweetheart" he exclaims opening his arms in a wide gesture "I was wondering when you would return for you eight or something shifts you've missed" he says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes "don't call me sweetheart you old drunk. And I'm sorry I just got caught up in things" I say and Haymitch laughs loudly at my name for him. It has always amused him, though it baffles me why. He peers over my shoulder and his eyes lock on Peeta.

"Looks like you've been getting caught up in some very good looking things" he smirks.

"oh shut up, he'd my friend" I snap and Haymitch lets out a rumbling laugh "still have the same spunk since last time I saw you" his booming voice fills the bar.

"Uh Katniss?" I hear Peeta question from behind me.

I turn to him "sorry I'll just be a second" I say and then turn back to haymitch

'look old man do I still have my job?" I ask sounding almost insistent. I need this job; I still have to pay Peeta back for his kindness somehow.

"Yeah of course" he says with a wave of his hand "but I expect you in here sometime tomorrow, don't care when" he says gruffly and I nod.

"Ok I'll see you then."

Peeta and I walk back outside into the town square and I'm thankful when he doesn't ask any questions. Once we get back to the house Peeta unlocks the door and I watch him walk into the kitchen and throw his jacket and keys down on the bench and then he walks and looks into the cupboards, pulling out a packet of chips and throwing them on the bench too.

I see his hand reach into his back pocket and then he turns frantic when he doesn't feel anything there. That's when I notice that I have the pamphlet he's looking for, in my pocket. He must hear my sharp intake of breath and when he turns around I know he knows I've seen it. The look on his face all but tells me.

"I know you have it" he whispers confirming all my thoughts. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply.

"I didn't mean to pry I promise, it just fell and I picked it up" I say quickly trying to convince him I didn't do it on purpose. But in the back of my head there is a voice telling me I did do it on purpose, I didn't have to look at the paper did I?

"I'm sorry" I say and he shakes his head, taking a step closer to me.

"Don't be, you were going to find out eventually" he sighs running a hand through his hair.

"Can I ask you a question?" I ask as I take the pamphlet out of my pocket.

"Depends"

"Why were you there? It just...it doesn't make sense" and I think I know the answer before I've finished asking him.

"No I'm sorry, I promise I will tell you eventually; but I just can't, not right now" he says sadly and I feel my face drop.

"I promise you will find out soon, but mi not ready to tell you why I was there yet" he says and I nod. "Can I have a hug?" he asks and the question is so out of the blue that I laugh and step forward into his waiting arms.

The hug is quick but I don't forget to close my eyes and let myself get lost in the comfort of his arms. When he pulls away he walks up the stairs yelling over his shoulder that he's going to have a shower. I can't help but smile after him, Peeta Mellark has that effect on you.

But my smile immediately disappears when I feel the heavy weight of the pamphlet in my hand. I can't believe Peeta would even dare go here.


	20. Chapter 20

There it is, just sitting there on the coffee table staring at me. I sit with my arms crossed over my chest as I lean back on the couch. Peeta left for work a few hours ago and I can't get this off my mind. Ever since yesterday when he refused to tell me where he has been going, the pamphlet as not leaked from my thoughts.

Why would Peeta be going to the seam orphanage, it doesn't add up, doesn't make sense. He should be ashamed to be seen in even the seam, let alone the orphanage; full of sick and grotty children.

Before the thought can run away and make me change my mind; I am up off the couch, swiping the pamphlet up as I go; and walking out the door. I make my way down to the seam as the sun from early spring beats against my neck.

Once I reach the gate to the orphanage I freeze in my tracks. I can do this I tell myself, you haven't lived here for two years. The mistress isn't going to treat you the same. I push through the large iron doors and am immediatly hit with the musty scent of dust and oats. I feel my nose scrunch up as I look down each corridor and try to remember which one led to the mistress' office. I go with the left, my footsteps echoing off the dusty carpet.

"Katniss?" I hear a voice and I spin on my heel, my braid nearly whipping me in the face. I feel my mouth go dry and I open my mouth but no words come out.

"I didn't know you were still alive" the mistress snarls. I take a step back as she takes a step forward. And then I stand up straight, raising my chin.

"Yes, and I would like to talk to you" I say sharply and her eyes narrow.

"Very well, follow me" she motions down the hallway and I walk a few paces behind her and into her office. I take a seat on the other side of the desk to where she has sat down.

"What can I do for you katniss?" She says folding her hands in her lap.

"Um" I look down at my lap and fiddle with my fingers. "I was just wondering, um, if you could tell me what Peeta Mellark has been doing here?" I ask nervously and I see her eyes narrow behind her framed glasses.

"And may I ask how that is any of your business Miss Everdeen?"

"Um it's not really, I just, I need to know" I say lamely and her laugh booms throughout the office.

"Im afraid I cannot tell you classified information, you are dismissed" she says turning to a pile of papers on her desk. I want to argue back, to tell her I don't live here anymore and she can't control me and what I do. Instead I just stand up quietly and make my way out, knowing there's no way she will ever tell me.

As I walk down the hallway I peek though a grimy, dirt caked window and peer inside. My heart drops when I see some of the children playing quietly together on the floor, their faces pale and sunken in.

I close my eyes and turn my head, not wanting to look any further. I hurry out of the dark place and run to the town school, not caring if anyone's watching. A few tears slip from my eyes as I burst through the front doors to the school.

I walk down the hallway looking through all of the windows until I see Peeta standing up the front of the class writing something on the whiteboard. I peer through the window in the door and when Peeta turns around his eyes lock onto mine.

I see him say something to the class and then start walking through the rows of chairs towards me. All of the kids heads turn in my direction and I step back from the window nervously.

Peeta steps out and then closes the door behind him.

"Hey are you ok?" He asks brushing at a loose strand of hair.

"I went by the orphanage today" I whisper not making eye contact with him. I don't want him to be angry at me. I hear him sigh and then I know without looking that he is running his hands through his hair.

"I'm sorry" I choke out and I feel his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't be sorry, but I wish you would just trust me when I say I will tell you when it's time" his voice sounds hurt.

"I do trust you, i'm just too curious for my own good" I laugh quietly.

"Now that I do know" Peeta laughs and then goes quiet. "Come here" he murmurs and in an instant I am wrapped up in his arms. I am instantly overwhelmed by his scent of dill, vanilla and oil paints and I must remember one day to ask why he smells like an art department. But I like it, it's a good smell.

"Thank you" I whisper "and i'm sorry...again" I say as I bury my face in his shirt. I feel his arms tighten around me and I feel his nose against the side of my neck as he hugs me close.

We only break apart when a series of laughs and giggles erupt from the classroom. Peeta smiles down at me "I'll see you at home ok" and I nod once before turning around.

I can hear catcalls and woops coming from the classroom as Peeta walks back inside. I smile to myself and then realise that Peeta called it home, implying that it's my home too. The thought makes me want to go running straight back to him and hug him tightly again. And I even let a few tears escape because of how naturally good Peeta has been to me, how much he has given me.

"Katniss" I here a hushed whisper and I look around the dark woods, the clouds are lit up spookily from the moon and I can hear the rustle of leaves in the wind.

"Katniss" I hear it again and then all of a sudden my name is being passed around the trees, whispering in the wind.

"Katniss, Katniss, katniss" the hushed voices whisper again and again. I look up and can just make out the dark shadows of the trees in the midnight sky. The wind howls through the leaves leaving chills creeping down my back and making me shiver.

"Who's there?" I call out, my voice shaky. But there is no reply other than my name being hushed over and over again. I stumble back a step and my calf hits something hard; sending me sprawling across the ground. I see a shadow in the moonlight coming closer and when it is below the tree line I can make out the outline of a large bird. That's when my name spills from its beak, loud and menacing as it screeches in my face.

I scream out as the bird swoops me and I curl up in a ball on the ground. There is a loud rumbling of thunder and then a swarm of the large birds are swooping around me as they screech out my name. I scream as I feel claws scrape across my scalp and I feel sticky, warm blood start running down my face.

"Please" I whimper as their screeched get louder.

"Katniss!" I hear a frantic voice call out but this time it's not from the birds. "Katniss!" I hear again and I open my eyes to see Peeta sprinting through the darkened woods towards me.

And then the birds are gone, not completely but they have stopped attacking me. For a second I think that Peeta has really scared away the birds; but then there is another loud, deep rumbling and a cloud of black feathers engulf Peeta. I can hear his screams of pain, calling out to me and warning me to run and save myself.

"Peeta!" I scream and my throat feels dry I reach out a hand towards him and scramble to my feet. My head spins from where the claws cut deep across my head, my hair is matted and stuck to my head with the blood.

"Peeta!" I scream again as his yells of pain persist. I spring forward towards where the birds are attacking him but I can't move my legs. Nothing I do will allow me to run towards Peeta and save him. I try screaming out his name again my no noise erupts from me. No! No. I struggle and try as hard as I can to reach Peeta.

I hear in the distance a blood-curdling scream. It gets louder and louder and I have to cover my ears to stop them from popping at the intensity of the scream.

The scream gets so loud it's as though it is living inside of me. It shakes my body violently and make me curl up on the ground tightly but it just keeps getting louder and louder. It feels as though I can no longer live because of how loud this scream is, it's consuming me completely. There is a loud explosion and everything turns bright orange for a split second before it all goes dark.

I open my eyes and fling upwards on the couch, gasping with my eyes open wide with fear.

"Hey Katniss, shh it's ok, your alright" I hear Peeta's voice and I turn around on the couch and see his sitting there. I scrambling over and climb into his lap, wrapping my arms around him tightly.

"Hey it's ok, your ok" he murmurs in my ear as I feel my body start to shake and wrack with sobs.

"Your alive" I whimper and I feel his arms tighten around me.

"We're both safe" he whispers and I nod my tear stained face against his chest. I look up at him and into his eyes, filled with worry, pain and something else I can't quite detect.

Before I know what is happening his face is coming closer to mine and his eyes flicker to my lips. I can't think straight, my mind is whirring but nothing is actually making sense. I can feel his warm breath on my cheek and I find myself closing my eyes and relaxing into his touch.

His lips are just about to ghost over mine when there is a shrill ring from inbetween us. We jump apart, eyes wide and Peeta's cheeks are red.

Peeta glances at me nervously as he pulls his phone from his pocket and looks at the screen. I see him sigh angrily.

"Hello?" I can hear murmuring from the other end of the line and I sit awkwardly as I watch Peeta converse with whoever is on the phone. Finally he hangs up and stares at the phone for awhile before looking up at me, his eyes ablaze with excitement.

"Are you ready to find out why I've been going to the orphanage?"


	21. Chapter 21

The next week with Prim is complete with making up lost time. All these years of me believing she was dead, and she was alive. Living in District Four, under the promise of pretending to be dead. But Peeta had saved that. He had fought to have Prim come home, he had done that for me; and I can never, ever, repay him for that.

Prim has grown into such a smart young woman, she has quite obviously continued her studies while in District Four and now she tells me she wishes to work at the town hospital, helping the other sick children. That is in fact where she is today. After a week of catching up and learning of what has happened in the years we have not seen one another, Prim has been desperate to attend the hospital and start volunteering. Today is her first day, and for the first time in a long time; I find myself feeling lonely. Peeta is at work and doesn't get back until after three.

One glance at the clock hanging on the wall tells me I still have another hour at least until someone arrives home. Well Peeta's home.

Prim has been utterly ecstatic over the stories I have told her of Peeta. She squealed with delight when I grudgingly revealed to her the few times we have almost kissed. She refused to believe me when I mentioned that Peeta only wants to be friends. I'm not even sure I believe myself sometimes, at least I hope not.

Instead of wallowing in my time on the couch, I walk down to the town school, making the most of the sun that is out. The end of school bell should be ringing soon, but I walk down to where I know the staffroom is, on the off chance Peeta isn't teaching for the last period of the day.

Knocking on the door, I wait a good 30 seconds before the door swings open and I am faced with a tall girl. Her hair is dark and shoulder length, she has sharp eyebrows and her dark eyes glare at me. I watch as she looks over me before a smirk pulls at the corners of her mouth.

"Um...is Peeta here?" I ask peering around her into the room. She steps sideways to block my view, her face no longer glaring but amused in a scoffing way.

"He is in fact" she hints with a fleeting glance over her shoulder. "But of course, I already knew that's who you were after. Your Katniss...right?"

I stare at her bewildered, my mind scrambling to find the right words. "Uhhh...um"

"I'll take that as a yes" she smirks, "Peeta your girlfriends here" she yells over her shoulder and I glare at her.

I hear shuffling behind her, "Jo I don't have a-oh Katniss, hi." Peeta's face breaks into a smile when he sees me standing at the door. "Johanna stop interrogating her" he sighs reaching out and grabbing my hand, pulling me into the room. Peeta drags me over to a table where he has obviously been marking some work.

"Um, if your busy I can leave" I say, not wanting to interrupt his work.

"No no your fine, I was just packing up now anyway" Peeta explains as he shuffles through the papers and stacks them all into a haphazard pile. He looks up and smiles widely at me. "Good?" He asks, I nod and follow him back out the door, willing myself not to look at Johanna; who I know is still smirking at me and this whole ordeal. I follow Peeta out into the hallway and together we walk down towards the main door. Peeta has his bag slung over his shoulder and the silence that stirs between us is neither uncomfortable or the differ.

I don't really know how to act in a situation such as the one I am in now. I can't stop my mind from reeling with thoughts. Why on earth did I decide to come here? Surely my boredom and loneliness doesn't account for this type of behaviour. Peeta leads us around the long way home, I don't question it though my mind certainly begs for the answer.

"Did you need to talk to me or something?" Peeta asks suddenly. I shake my head, not sure if my voice will actually work. Now that I've figured out I can stop that feelings I have for Peeta, I don't generally trust what I say to him, compared to what I think I say.

"Oh" his face falls, "I just thought, since you came to the school..." He trails off.

"I was lonely" I say quickly then wish I hadn't as I feel my face heat up in the cheeks. It takes me a moment to realise that Peeta has stopped walking. I stop and turn around to face him. Peeta takes a two long strides until he is directly in front of me. So close I can feel his warmth radiating, and I can smell that distinct Peeta smell.

Not knowing where to look as his eyes gaze at me intently; I glance around us, looking to see if any people are stopping to stare. No one has noticed yet, or at least they have the curtesy to pretend they haven't. I will myself to turn back to Peeta. His deep blue eyes still boring into mine.

"Katniss" he whispers as his hands reach up to my face. I feel my cheeks heat up again, and I have the urge to suddenly start over talking, I don't know but maybe that's something I might to when I'm nervous.

"I have to tell you" he murmurs.

"Tell me what?" I choke out, my voice a harsh whisper.

"Ever since I saw you, that day at the seam school. I thought that...that I had never seen someone so beautiful. I have wanted to tell you how much I am falling for you ever since that day, but I didn't want to frighten you. I am praying that you don't run away from me right now." he says softly as I stare at him blankly. I can't make sense of this all, Peeta liking me? How? why?

"Katniss I could go on all day stating everything about you that intrigues me, your hair and how much I want to tangle my fingers in it; your silver eyes and how they always speak the truth" he is whispering now, his face close to mine. "I don't want to scare you off, but I'm tired of hiding my feelings for you. I want to be with you, to love you and hold you in my arms whenever I want, to hold your hand and kiss you endlessly. To cherish and protect you. Please. " He finishes breathlessly, his eyes searching mine frantically.

I feel my mind swimming with everything he has just proclaimed. I can't make sense if it all, I can never seem to think straight when Peeta is close to me, but now even more than ever. His smell is intoxicating and I can see him staring at me intently, waiting for me to say something back. But I'm not good at saying something. I can't think of what I could possibly say that wouldn't seem lame against what Peeta just admitted. _._ I can feel my heart pounding and Peeta's face starts to fall when he notices my long silence.

"Why do you always smell like an art department?" I blurt out before I can even register what I just said. My hand claps over my mouth as a smirk pulls at the corners of Peeta's mouth. I feel my face flush with embarrassment.

"I proclaim my falling for you, and you ask me why I smell like paints?" He says slyly and I bury my face in my hands, too ashamed and embarrassed to even look at him.

"I'm sorry" I mumble "I'm not good at saying something."

"Then come here" he murmurs and I glance up from my hands. His eyes are bright as he takes another step closer to me leans down slowly. This time I don't pull away and nothing interrupts us. His hands grip my waist tightly as he pulls me to him, his lips slanting over mine. I close my eyes and try not to overthink what is happening. I have never been kissed before and have no idea what I am doing. I go on instinct as Peeta's kiss shuts my mind down completely. My hands slide up his chest and fist his shirt in my hand as I try and pull him closer to me. His lips are warm against mine and his hands grip me tighter to him.

I pull away breathlessly and he rests his forehead against mine, both of us breathing heavily.

"I've wanted to do that for so long now" he whispers; and this time I don't have to think as I answer him.

"Me too."


	22. Chapter 22

The next week with Prim is complete with making up lost time. All these years of me believing she was dead, and she was alive. Living in District Four, under the promise of pretending to be dead. But Peeta had saved that. He had fought to have Prim come home, he had done that for me; and I can never, ever, repay him for that.

Prim has grown into such a smart young woman, she has quite obviously continued her studies while in District Four and now she tells me she wishes to work at the town hospital, helping the other sick children. That is in fact where she is today. After a week of catching up and learning of what has happened in the years we have not seen one another, Prim has been desperate to attend the hospital and start volunteering. Today is her first day, and for the first time in a long time; I find myself feeling lonely. Peeta is at work and doesn't get back until after three.

One glance at the clock hanging on the wall tells me I still have another hour at least until someone arrives home. Well Peeta's home.

Prim has been utterly ecstatic over the stories I have told her of Peeta. She squealed with delight when I grudgingly revealed to her the few times we have almost kissed. She refused to believe me when I mentioned that Peeta only wants to be friends. I'm not even sure I believe myself sometimes, at least I hope not.

Instead of wallowing in my time on the couch, I walk down to the town school, making the most of the sun that is out. The end of school bell should be ringing soon, but I walk down to where I know the staffroom is, on the off chance Peeta isn't teaching for the last period of the day.

Knocking on the door, I wait a good 30 seconds before the door swings open and I am faced with a tall girl. Her hair is dark and shoulder length, she has sharp eyebrows and her dark eyes glare at me. I watch as she looks over me before a smirk pulls at the corners of her mouth.

"Um...is Peeta here?" I ask peering around her into the room. She steps sideways to block my view, her face no longer glaring but amused in a scoffing way.

"He is in fact" she hints with a fleeting glance over her shoulder. "But of course, I already knew that's who you were after. Your Katniss...right?"

I stare at her bewildered, my mind scrambling to find the right words. "Uhhh...um"

"I'll take that as a yes" she smirks, "Peeta your girlfriends here" she yells over her shoulder and I glare at her.

I hear shuffling behind her, "Jo I don't have a-oh Katniss, hi." Peeta's face breaks into a smile when he sees me standing at the door. "Johanna stop interrogating her" he sighs reaching out and grabbing my hand, pulling me into the room. Peeta drags me over to a table where he has obviously been marking some work.

"Um, if your busy I can leave" I say, not wanting to interrupt his work.

"No no your fine, I was just packing up now anyway" Peeta explains as he shuffles through the papers and stacks them all into a haphazard pile. He looks up and smiles widely at me. "Good?" He asks, I nod and follow him back out the door, willing myself not to look at Johanna; who I know is still smirking at me and this whole ordeal. I follow Peeta out into the hallway and together we walk down towards the main door. Peeta has his bag slung over his shoulder and the silence that stirs between us is neither uncomfortable or the differ.

I don't really know how to act in a situation such as the one I am in now. I can't stop my mind from reeling with thoughts. Why on earth did I decide to come here? Surely my boredom and loneliness doesn't account for this type of behaviour. Peeta leads us around the long way home, I don't question it though my mind certainly begs for the answer.

"Did you need to talk to me or something?" Peeta asks suddenly. I shake my head, not sure if my voice will actually work. Now that I've figured out I can stop that feelings I have for Peeta, I don't generally trust what I say to him, compared to what I think I say.

"Oh" his face falls, "I just thought, since you came to the school..." He trails off.

"I was lonely" I say quickly then wish I hadn't as I feel my face heat up in the cheeks. It takes me a moment to realise that Peeta has stopped walking. I stop and turn around to face him. Peeta takes a two long strides until he is directly in front of me. So close I can feel his warmth radiating, and I can smell that distinct Peeta smell.

Not knowing where to look as his eyes gaze at me intently; I glance around us, looking to see if any people are stopping to stare. No one has noticed yet, or at least they have the curtesy to pretend they haven't. I will myself to turn back to Peeta. His deep blue eyes still boring into mine.

"Katniss" he whispers as his hands reach up to my face. I feel my cheeks heat up again, and I have the urge to suddenly start over talking, I don't know but maybe that's something I might to when I'm nervous.

"I have to tell you" he murmurs.

"Tell me what?" I choke out, my voice a harsh whisper.

"Ever since I saw you, that day at the seam school. I thought that...that I had never seen someone so beautiful. I have wanted to tell you how much I am falling for you ever since that day, but I didn't want to frighten you. I am praying that you don't run away from me right now." he says softly as I stare at him blankly. I can't make sense of this all, Peeta liking me? How? why?

"Katniss I could go on all day stating everything about you that intrigues me, your hair and how much I want to tangle my fingers in it; your silver eyes and how they always speak the truth" he is whispering now, his face close to mine. "I don't want to scare you off, but I'm tired of hiding my feelings for you. I want to be with you, to love you and hold you in my arms whenever I want, to hold your hand and kiss you endlessly. To cherish and protect you. Please. I want to tell you every day that I unconditionally love you , because I do" He finishes breathlessly, his eyes searching mine frantically.

I feel my mind swimming with everything he has just proclaimed. I can't make sense if it all, I can never seem to think straight when Peeta is close to me, but now even more than ever. His smell is intoxicating and I can see him staring at me intently, waiting for me to say something back. But I'm not good at saying something. I can't think of what I could possibly say that wouldn't seem lame against what Peeta just admitted. _He loves me._ I can feel my heart pounding and Peeta's face starts to fall when he notices my long silence.

"Why do you always smell like an art department?" I blurt out before I can even register what I just said. My hand claps over my mouth as a smirk pulls at the corners of Peeta's mouth. I feel my face flush with embarrassment.

"I proclaim my falling for you, and you ask me why I smell like paints?" He says slyly and I bury my face in my hands, too ashamed and embarrassed to even look at him.

"I'm sorry" I mumble "I'm not good at saying something."

"Then come here" he murmurs and I glance up from my hands. His eyes are bright as he takes another step closer to me leans down slowly. This time I don't pull away and nothing interrupts us. His hands grip my waist tightly as he pulls me to him, his lips slanting over mine. I close my eyes and try not to overthink what is happening. I have never been kissed before and have no idea what I am doing. I go on instinct as Peeta's kiss shuts my mind down completely. My hands slide up his chest and fist his shirt in my hand as I try and pull him closer to me. His lips are warm against mine and his hands grip me tighter to him.

I pull away breathlessly and he rests his forehead against mine, both of us breathing heavily.

"I've wanted to do that for so long now" he whispers; and this time I don't have to think as I answer him.

"Me too."

* * *

I want to thank the people that supported me for the beginning. That was the end of the story , but don't be sad because i'm writing another. Next week i upload it. Thanks guys !


	23. Chapter 23

Back at the house later, I can't help but notice the way Peeta's eyes follow me around, making my face constantly flush red. Prim keeps glancing at us, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. I'm not exactly reading to tell here about what happened with Peeta and I this afternoon, though I won't keep her in the dark for too long. Right now I just want to enjoy Peeta to myself.

After dinner Prim and Peeta insist on doing the dishes, leaving me to wander around the house with nothing really to do. I go up to my room and pull on my cotton pyjama shorts and a loose fitting top, it has a few holes in it, from when I was living out in the woods. It helps me feel like home in some crazy way. I pull the ends on the sleeves down over my hands, always somehow finding comfort in the way the material covers my hands. I curl up on the large armchair, grabbing the television remote and start surfing through the channels. Nothing good comes on so I settle on a documentary on animals.

My eyes are just starting to droop and i'm falling in and out of sleep when I feel two arms slide under me and life me off the couch. I groan at the loss of my comfy armchair but soon relax into the arms which I know belong to Peeta. I bury my face into his chest as he carries my up the stairs and into my room. I feel him lay me on the bed, tucking the covers around me and up to my chin.

Just as I hear his feet retracing his steps back to the door, I slide my arm out from under the covers and reach it out to him.

"Stay" I murmur tiredly, barely opening my eyes. I let my arm drop down the side of the bed in exhaustion. I hear Peeta sigh and then the other side of the bed dips as Peeta sits down ontop of the covers. I roll over and curl up against him. Just as he murmurs back to me. But i'm already too far asleep to hear what it is he says.

The next morning I wake up feeling better rested than I have in a long time. I vaguely remember the events of last night. Though I can't remember whether Peeta staying with me was a dream or real. When I open my eyes he is gone, the bed still perfectly made where he was sitting ontop of the covers. He must have left once I had fallen asleep.

I can't help the smile from falling across my face when I remember back to the kiss yesterday, and wondering whether or not it's going to be one of those things where both parties just ignore each other after kissing. I really hope not. The stirring in my stomach everytime I see him is something completely different from anything I have ever felt.

I roll out of bed and take one look in the mirror, my hair is a birds nest. I untangle it with my fingers then rebraiding it quickly. Climbing down the stairs slowly, I find that the house is completely silent. "Hello?" I call out as I pad across the floorboards and into the kitchen. Nobody answers so i'm assuming i'm the only one home.

I grab the bread from the cuoboard and pop a couple of slices into the toaster, toast being the only breakfast thing I can actually cook. Not having much experiencing in cooking while living in the woods alone obviously hasn't helped me much. I get distracted by a note hanging off the fridge by a magnet, Peeta's handwriting covering the page.

I walk up to it and pull it off, reading Peeta's quickly scrawled note.

Katniss,

Prim went down to the hospital again, she said she couldn't wait until next week to volunteer again. I'm at work, don't worry it's Friday finally. If you'll let me, meet me at the town park at 4:00pm. I want to take you out on a proper date. Don't worry about fancy clothes. I miss you already.

~ Peeta

I feel my heartbeat pick up at just this simple note, the last line causing a frenzy to erupt in my head. He misses me? I didn't know it was possible for someone to miss me, other than Prim. She's the only family I have left. I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't realise I have forgotten about the toast until the smoke alarm starts blaring. The corner of the kitchen that houses the toaster quickly fills with smoke. And the loud ringing of the alarm threatens to steal my ability to hear.

Never having encounter a smoke alarm before, I have absolutely no idea what I need to do to stop it. I start freaking out as the ringing gets louder and louder, reminding me that there is smoke in the house. I run over to the toaster and press the cancel button, making the now charcoal bread stop cooking.

I grab the house phone and dial the number Peeta wrote on a sticky-note for when I needed to contact him. It rings a few times before I hear his voice come over the phone.

"Hello?"

"Um Peeta hey" I have to yell over the alarm.

"Katniss? Is everything alright? What's that noise? Are you ok?" He starts firing a million questions at me.

"I'm fine" I yell "I just set the smoke alarm off!"

"You what? I can't hear you." He struggles. I sigh annoyed.

"I set the fire alarm off, how do I fix it?" I yell out down the phone line.

"Geez Katniss, how on earth did you manage to set the alarm off this early in the morning?"

"Toast. Now how do I stop it?"

"Wave a tea-towel in front of it and open the kitchen window, that should get the smoke away from the sensor" he explains.

I crank open the window and then grab the blue towel off the bench, reaching up and waving it infront of the alarm sensor. After about fifteen seconds the alarm stops blaring and I sigh in relief.

"Better?" Peeta says and I can practically hear the smirk on his face right now.

"Much, thanks. Though I don't have any breakfast now. I might call Annie and see if she wants to go out" I say, sighing in defeat at my blackened toast.

"I can't believe you burnt toast" he jokes.

"Well I haven't exactly had the best cooking lessons, living homeless and all that" I say back. I'm only joking though I know uni have unintentionally hit a nerve for Peeta.

"Don't" he breaths, his voice leaking with pain. "Don't joke about that."

"I'm sorry" I mumble and I hear him sigh.

"Are you up for tonight?" He asks and I assume he's referring to the note he left. "Will you let me take out out? I want to get to know you better, if you'll allow it" his voice is nervous as he says the last part.

"I'll allow it" I breath out the air I had been unknowingly holding in.

"Great. So I'll see you this afternoon then?" He says.

"Yeah see you then." We say our goodbyes and then hang up, Peeta had to go since he had to go to his first class for the day.

I go upstairs and shower, getting dressed for the day and then slipping on my shoes. I trundle outside, making sure to lock the front door. The walk to Ellen's is uneventful. I realise halfway there though that I probably should have called to see if she wasn't working or anything. Luckily for me, she answers the door cheerfully, already dressed for the day.

"Katniss" she exclaims happily, throwing her arms around me in a hug. I'm taken by surprise at first but return the hug warmly. "What are doing here?" she asks.

"Uh I burnt my breakfast, I was going to see if you wanted to go and get something to eat. It's ok it your busy though" I rush out and she beams at me.

"No I would love to! Just let me grab my bag" she runs back inside for a minute before re-emerging with shoes on and her bag slung over her shoulder. We walk down to the towns main cafe and take up a booth seat. I glance at the menu and instantly know I want French toast. I've never had it before, though I must admit it sounds amazing.

Ellen orders pancakes and we both get hot chocolates. We talk about unnecessary things until our breakfasts come, and suddenly the conversation takes a terrifyingly deep turn on Ellen's behalf.

"So what's going on with you and Peeta?" She smirks, raising her mug of hot chocolate to her lips. I avoice making eye contact with her as I slowly eat some of my breakfast, busying myself with everything except answering her question.

"We're friends" I say softly after awhile and I hear her scoff.

"Yeah right! You two have kissed haven't you? I can see it in your eyes" she says, her own green eyes sparkling with excitement. I don't need to answer her, the blush on my face gives it away enough. "I knew it!" She beams "i'm really happy for you and Peeta Katniss. This is exactly what you both need."

I look down at the table and shake my head slowly. "Hardly anything has started yet, he probably isn't even that serious about it" I mumble.

"Why would you say that?" Ellen asks softly.

"I'm so much younger than him, he could get tired of me easily, i'm not good enough for him. Peeta...his amazing, so much better than me" I breath out "i'm not worth his time really." She reaches out and places her hand over the top of mine resting on the table.

"He isn't that much older than you. Your 19, about to turn twenty in a month or so, If i'm correct. Peeta is currently 21," her voice is calming and somehow makes me feel better. "I know for a fact that Peeta cares about you much more than you are letting on right now."

I glance at her, my cheeks heating up. "Really?" I ask, a small smile playing on my lips and she nods once, her smile lighting up her face.

I meet Peeta at the park just after four, he is waiting for me under a tree. "You ready?" He asks, taking my hand in his. I nod shyly as he leads me through the park and up a path through some trees.

"I've never been up here before" I exclaim in amazement. The trees all create a cover over the pathway which is steadily leading up a hill.

"I only just found it the other week. Wait until we reach the top" he smiles at me warmly. Peeta's hand never lets go of mine the whole walk. After about ten more minutes the path evens out onto flat ground, are is a cluster of trees and a tangle of branches and leaves blocking the rest of the path. I look at Peeta in confusion. He smiles and gestures towards the trees.

"Ladies first."

I walk froward and push the tree branches away, stepping through the trees where I emerge into a large open clearing. I gasp at the winners of it all. There is a fair size lake, it's silvery surface glittering in the afternoon sun. The grass is dotted with colourful flowers and dandelions and the view of the city is breathtaking.

"Pretty amazing huh?" Peeta's voice is close to my ear and it makes me shiver when he wraps his arms around me. We stand there in silence for while, just taking in the feel of being wrapped in each other's arms and admiring the view.

"Just wait until sunset" he breaths as he takes my hand and leads me over to a spot on the grass. Peeta takes the bag he was carrying on his back and pulls out various containers of food. Laying it all out in front of me, my stomach starts to grumble loudly at the heavenly scents wafting from the containers.

There are cheese buns, cinnamon rolls, chocolate cake and a wide range of colourful fruits. There is also another roll with various toppings adoring it. I take one of then and the bread is still warm. Peeta must have baked them straight after he got out of work.

"What is it?" I ask him? Glancing at the roll curiously.

"It's a pizza roll. Have you never had one before?" He asks and I shake my head as I take a bite. I can't help the moan that escapes my lips. The bread is light and airy, and the pizza toppings add so much extra flavour, it tastes amazing.

After we have eaten Peeta and I stretch out on the grass. I rest my head on Peeta's chest as we watch the sun set over the city and the trees. The array of colours all swirling together. Pinks, purples, blue's and oranges, caramels and reds.

"That's my favourite colour" Peeta points out "Sunset orange."

"Mine's green, like the Forrest" I murmur. "It's so beautiful up here. This is our place" I say.

I feel Peeta shift and I look up to see him staring at me intently. "Our place" he smiles "I like that," and just like that, his lips are on mine again.

I let out a sigh as my hands travel upwards. One fists his shirt into my hand while the other tangles itself in his golden blond hair. Peeta's warm hands grip my waist as his arms encircle me and he pulls me tightly against him. His mouth moves against mine softly and I can't help wanting more, not wanting to ever let go of this man kissing me now.

We pull away breath heavily, my eyes stay closed as I feel Peeta's lips press down on mine again. I inch myself closer to him, moving so my body is flush against his. After we pull away again Peeta wraps his arms around me tightly and I curl up into his chest.

After laying down and talking for awhile longer Peeta announces the moment we have both been dreading.

"We really need to get back."

Together we pack up all of the food containers and Peeta grabs my hand as we start the track back down the hill. The only difference being this time it's dark, the moon our only source of light, I guess it's lucky it's a full moon tonight. Once we get home I see Prim already asleep on the couch, the lights all off.

Peeta and I creep upstairs and get ready for bed. I am coming out of the bathroom just as he is going in.

"Goodnight Peeta" I whisper, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek lightly.

"Goodnight" I hear him murmur after me as I walk into the makeshift room Peeta had set up for me. Originally I was sleeping in his bed, but then Peeta turned his study next door to his bedroom into a room for me. He bought a new bed, which I think was completely ridiculous, but he insisted.

I climb into bed and turn the lamp off, killing all the golden light it was illuminating the room only moments ago. I pull the covers up to my chin as I curl up in the blankets. Slowly I drift off to sleep. Only to be captured hours later, screaming for Peeta and Prim in my sleep. The nightmare raging through my mind and I thrash around, getting tangled in the sheets. Usually I would wake up from a nightmare, either that or someone else would wake me. Only this time, no one comes to wake me up. And my nightmare doesn't want to let me go. I am trapped in the night terror. Watching Peeta die while Prim and I scream. Over and over and over again.


	24. Chapter 24

Peeta is dead. I just watched him die, over and over again. I can hear Prim screaming and i'm screaming. Loud noises are exploding though I don't know where they are coming from, just that Peeta keeps dying in front of my eyes. I scream out his name, begging him to come back, I can't lose him. But his eyes don't move, they remain glassy and shut off from the world. I scream out again. Just as I gasp in a deep breath of air, flying up in bed. My heart races wildly as my eyes flit around the darkened room. Peeta.

As quickly as I can, I am out of my bed and running down the hall to Peeta's room. I don't bother knocking as I open the door and creep inside. I have to make sure he's ok. That he's alive. I hear rustling and then see the outline of Peeta lean up in his bed.

"Katniss?" I hear him mumble. And then I break down at the sound of his voice, standing here in the doorway. I sob loudly, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "Come 'ere" he murmurs tiredly.

I pad across the floor and climb into the bed, tucking myself into his side. His arms go around me immediately, his fingers running through my hair. I cry into his shirt, soaking it with my tears. Peeta whispers soothing words into my ear as I cry out all my emotions. When my tears finally stop, I feel him frame my face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away my tears.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks. I shake my head as I lay down on his chest, my ear resting above his heart, where I can hear it beating.

"Your alive" I whisper running my fingers up and down his chest. I hear him sigh.

"I'm here, I promised" he whispers in my ear.

"Always" I murmur.

When I wake up the next morning I feel better rested than I have felt in years, despite having that horrendous nightmare. I realise that Peeta has crept up on me, he is quickly becoming something I am going to need in my life, that nightmare provide it well enough.

I blink open my eyes and the first thing I see, are Peeta's pair of bright blue eyes gazing down at me.

"Hi" I whisper, "how long have you been watching me?" I ask.

His face turns a light shade of pink. "Not that long. I like watching you sleep, your beautiful."

Now it's my turn to turn red, I bury my face in my hands against his chest and I hear him laugh.

"Come on Katniss, it's not that bad" he laughs and I shake my head, peeking up at him nervously.

"You think i'm beautiful?" I ask and he leans down and captures my lips in his. My eyes close as I reach up and rest my palm on his cheek. His lips move against mine, soft and slightly chapped.

"I've thought you were beautiful from the first time I saw you" he says, pulling away. "But how are you? After that dream?" He asks concerned.

"I'm okay. Now that I know your alive. Even Prim was screaming your name, she really cares about you, you know. You brought her back to me" I say.

"I could see how much she ment to you, you needed alittle light and love in your life. Especially after everything you've been through" Peeta crawls out of bed and then pulls a shirt over his head. I sit up in the bed, gazing at him while he walks about the room, picking up clothes and pushing them into the dirty clothes hamper.

"You coming?" He asks and I nod as I climb out of bed and follow him down the stairs.

Prim is sitting at the table, eating a plate full of bacon and toast. She is looking at the pages of a book but I can tell she isn't really reading it when she smirks and her eyebrows raise up when we walk into the room.

"Have a good sleep?" She asks slyly as she gives us a knowing look.

"Shut up Prim. I had a nightmare we didn't do anything" I say as Peeta swipes a large piece of bacon off her plate and shoves it in his mouth.

"Hey!" Prim screeches as she jumps up out of her chair and chases Peeta, who has run out of the dining room and into the kitchen. I smile as I reach out and take the last piece of bacon off her plate and follow them into the kitchen. Peeta has Prim dangling over his shoulder and she beats on his back demanding that he put her down. When Peeta see's me he puts her back on the ground. She huffs as she straightens out her top.

Her eyes widen when she sees the bacon I have dangling from my hand. "Is that mine?" She asks slowly and I nod. She jumps forward and reaches for it but I just shake my head.

"Come on Prim, let me have just one piece" I say and she shakes her head.

"No! Make your own" she says just as the bacon is ripped from my hand and I see Peeta eating the last piece.

"Too late" he smirks. I frown at him as I slap him on the arm.

"Fine. Now you have to make me breakfast" I complain and he smiles brightly.

"I'd be happy too."

"Hey so I was thinking" I hear Peeta's voice call down to me from the hallway. I throw the top over my head just as he walks through the door into my bedroom, leaning on the doorframe.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to come meet my family today?" his voice is cautious and I freeze.

"Your family? As in your mother, the woman who broke my arm when I was eight?"

He walks forward and sits down on the bed. "I don't know if she would be home or not. I don't think she would recognise you, but it won't change her opinion on you either way. I know that my older brothers are going over and I haven't seen them in ages. I asked if I could bring you. Dad said yes" his voice is close to pleading.

I sigh and walk over to him so i'm standing in between his legs. His arms snake around my waist as he looks up at me.

"Fine" I whisper. His eyes light up.

"Thank you" he says, standing up and kissing my forehead.

"Peeta..." I say nervously and I grip his hand tightly as he pulls me up the drive to the house, it's right behind the bakery.

"Katniss their going to love you. Maybe not my mother. But she doesn't really like anyone, stop worrying" he says as he pulls me close to his side. I'm still getting used to being touched by Peeta like this. It's only been two days and the direction our relationship has turned in is quite noticeable.

Peeta doesn't knock as he lets himself into the house, the door banging shut behind him as he pulls me down the hallway, his hand gripping mine. I can hear noises coming from a door at the end of the hall. We turn into the living room which is also connected to the dining room.

"Hey dad" Peeta calls as a he walks over to us. He looks exactly like an older version of Peeta; I recognise him immediately as the man who fixed up my arm after his wife broke it, he still looks exactly the same.

Mr Mellark greets Peeta and then turns to me. "Katniss it's so great to finally meet you officially. Peeta has told me quite abit about you" he says as his blue eyes twinkle.

"It's great to meet you too" I say shyly. Peeta pulls me further into the room as another boy, a few years older than Peeta jumps infront of us.

"You must be Katniss, great to finally meet you, though I must say Peeta was speaking true when he talked of your beauty" he says with a giant smile on his face. He has blond hair is like Peeta's, though his face is slightly narrower and his eyes are a different shade of blue.

"Um yeah I am" I say as I see Peeta roll his eyes.

"Well i'm Rye" he states and then turns to Peeta, "hey baby brother. I see you weren't lying when you said you found a chick" he grins just as another girl comes up behind him.

"Rye be nice" she scolds. She has caramel coloured hair and hazel eyes, she is extremely beautiful.

"Oh yeah I forgot about you" Rye smirks and the girl scowls at him. "Katniss this is my girlfriend Lisa" he says and then scampers off when he sees a basket of bread placed on the table. I say a quick hello to Lisa just as Peeta pulls me over to the couch. We sit down and he rubs a hand up and down my back soothingly. He must be able to sense my nerves.

"My mothers probably in the kitchen cooking" he explains when he sees my eyes darting around. Rye and Lisa come over and sit down on the couch opposite us, Rye has a plateful of bread in his lap. Peeta is just about to say something when a little girl comes running into the room from the hallway screaming out Peeta's name. Peeta jumps up from the couch and scoops the little girl up into his arms, making her squeal and laugh.

Once he puts her down I recognise the blond curls and blue eyes. I remember seeing Audrey at the park, and finding out she was, in fact, Peeta's niece.

"Hey Audrey, this is Katniss" Peeta tells her as he sits back down onto the couch and lifts Audrey up onto his lap. She crawls over onto mine and lifts up her small, chubby hand and runs it over my face.

"I already know that Pweeta" she says in a matter-of-fact tone, cause both him and I to laugh.

"We met at the park" I explain as Audrey nods her head, her curls bouncing with the pink ribbon she has tied in her hair.

Just then Delly walks in with who I can only assume is Peeta's eldest brother,Simon. Delly smiles widely when she sees me.

"Katniss, what a surprise" she says as she takes note of Audrey in my lap as she plays with my hair.

"It's good to see you again" I say and she smiles brightly.

"This is my husband Simon" she says and he smiles and waves. He, like his other two brothers, has blond hair. Though it is slightly darker and his eyes are brown.

We all sit around talking while we wait for dinner. At one point Audrey crawled off my lap and stood on the couch behind me, her fingers curling into my hair which I left down as she twists it and plays with it. I noticed Peeta glance at me with a smile lighting up his face.

Everything is going fine and I am finally starting to settle in, but that was because I had forgotten about Peeta's mother.

She comes striding into the room, appearing for the first time tonight, announcing that dinner is ready. She is about to walk back to the kitchen when her eyes lock on me. She glares at me and I feel my mind go blank.

"Who are you?" She snaps and I feel Peeta's hand slip into mine.

"Mother, this is Katniss, my girlfriend." Peeta says slowly and I freeze. It's the first time he's used that term.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend" she sneers.

"We only got together a few days ago, we're going to take things slow" he says. She looks me up and down and then scowls.

"What would some stupid seam slut want with you anyway, she probably just wants your money" and I feel Peeta's hand grip mine tightly.

"Don't talk to her like that" he growls and I feel Audrey's arms wrap around my neck. Mrs Mellark glowers, her eyes almost burning as she glares at me, before storming off into the kitchen. And everyone is silent.

"Dinners ready" we all hear Mrs Mellark snap from the kitchen and everyone quickly jumps off the couches and to the table, not wanting to upset her even further.


	25. Chapter 25

can't seem to fathom why Mrs Mellark would even consider physically and mentally hurting her sons, Peeta especially. I'm still waiting for Peeta to tell me why she is the way she is. Especially now as we all sit around the table, a deadly silence rising over us all; save for the scraping of knives and forks on the China plates. I feel Peeta's hand glide over my leg, searching for my own. I tangle my fingers with his, desperate for his comfort as I try and ignore Mrs Mellark's constant stare.

"So Katniss do you have any siblings?" She asks me, her voice leaking with fake interest.

I clear my throat, "um yes...I have a sister, Prim, she's sixteen now."

Mrs Mellark smiles, although I can tell its forced. "Oh how nice; and your parents? What do they do?"

I feel Peeta's hand tighten around my own and I glance sideways as his face flushes an angry red.

"My parents died when I was eight" I choke out, Peeta's thumb strokes over the back of my hand, soothing me.

"An orphan?" Mrs Mellark sneers.

"Mother!" Peeta warns.

"So you grew up in that slimy seam orphanage? No wonder you turned out like this." Her lips turn up in a smirk as she speaks and I feel my breath get caught in the back of my throat.

"Mother please, stop" Peeta pleads and I watch as pain flashes across his face. I glance around the table and see that everyone has gone silent and shrunk back in their seats, even little Audrey is clinging to Delly.

"Dawn that is enough" Mr Mellark says sternly.

Mrs Mellark's face turns to one of pure fury. "Graham please, I can handle this one." She stands up from the table swiftly; the chair legs screeching against the wooden floors.

Before I can comprehend what is happening, Mrs Mellark's hand is clamped tightly around my upper arm and she is dragging me out of my seat with alarming strength for a woman of her age. My hand is ripped from Peeta's as she pulls me roughly along. I hear Peeta shout out in fury right as I feel the muscle in my arm pull too far. I cry out in pain and stumble along behind her as she stalks down a corridor.

I can hear Peeta storming after us, shouting angrily as he calls out my name. Mrs Mellark comes to an abrupt stop, spinning on her heel as the palm of her hand lands across my face in a sharp slap. I howl out as the sting radiates across my neck and into my head, giving me an automatic headache.

"Katniss" I hear Peeta yell out, he is just around the corner. Just as he comes into view Mrs Mellark gives me a strong push and I go tumbling backwards on the floor in a cupboard. The door slams and I hear the sound of a lock clicking. And then I am surrounded by darkness.

"Peeta" I sob as I bang on the door. I can hear Peeta furiously screaming at his mother.

"Give me the damn key now before I do something you regret" his voice is menacing.

"You served many times locked in that small cupboard, now it's your girlfriend's turn to have a taste of what you went through," Mrs Mellark snarls and I sob as I realise Peeta must have been constantly locked in here when he was younger.

"Don't your dare bring that up, unlock the door now or I swear you will regret it!"

"What you think I don't know who she is?" She screams "you think I don't know she's just a filthy seam rat who tried to steal from us when she was younger?" I feel my chest clench tightly. She knows.

I don't hear any more talking, just sounds of Peeta's brothers walking in on the commotion, trying to break it up.

"Where's Katniss?" I hear Rye ask, I hear a sob I know only too well to be Peeta's.

"In there? In the confinement cupboard?" I hear Rye whisper, as though even speaking of it was taboo.

I start to feel myself getting dizzy. Partly from the slap and also from the lack of oxygen in this small confined space. My head lolls as my eyes roll. I fall against the wall for support.

"Katniss?" I hear Peeta call out to me. I try to talk back, but my head starts to spin as I slowly use up all the Oxygen. I can still breath, although it's extremely stuffy and the air is thick, painful almost.

My voice croaks and I don't think he hears me since he starts to bang loudly on the door.

"Mother please, give me the key" he please desperately. There is a moment of silence until I hear a loud bang as someone gets thrown into a wall. I can tell they are fighting.

Not thirty seconds later I hear the key slide into the lock and the door flys open.

"Oh Katniss" I hear Peeta sigh as he pulls me from where I am slumped against the corner wall, about to pass out. He bundles me up in his arms tightly, murmuring sweet things in my ear about how sorry he is and how thankful he is i'm safe. I wrap my arms around his waist tightly as I bury my face in his shoulder. My tears staining his shirt. "I am so sorry" he whispers as he pulls back and places a soft kiss on my lips, his thumbs wipe away my tears from my cheeks.

"I want to go home" I whisper, sounding exactly like a young child, but right now I just want to get away from here. Peeta nods as he wraps his arm around my waist and we walk back out to the main room. Delly and Lisa are sitting on the couch, huddled together with Audrey between them. Rye and Simon are standing with Graham, explaining to him what Mrs Mellark did. I watch as his eyes glaze over with fury. I can hear Mrs Mellark in the kitchen, banging pots and plates as she takes her obvious anger out on the dishes.

Peeta takes my face in his hands as he looks closely at my cheek where she hit me, I see his eyes fill with pain. "Did she hurt you anywhere else?" He asks softly and I nod pointing to my upper arm.

"I think the muscle is pulled" I say. "I'll be right back" I tell him and he looks at me with confusion as I turn on my heel and stalk into the kitchen.

"How dare you do that to your son!" I yell out and Mrs Mellark jumps, turning around to face me. She snarls but I keep a straight face. "All three of your sons are so amazing, they don't deserve to have you as a mother, nobody does nor ever will" I growl.

"Excuse me?" She says, her voice is low and angry. I want to back away but I stand my ground.

"Never come near me or Peeta again" I say angrily "or anyone else in this family, they are all too good for you."

"You know nothing about family" she snarls and this makes my heart shatter. Because it's true. I have grown up without a family. I fuel my anger up and I step forward and slap her hard across the cheek. She hollers out in anger as a smug smile forms across my face.

"That's for all the years of torture you inflicted on your sons lives" I huff as I storm out of the kitchen and back into the main room. Everyone is silent and staring at me, mouths open and eyes wide. I feel my face blush and I look down at the ground swiftly and then back up at Peeta. "Um...sorry" I mumble "can we go home now please?" I ask and he nods. I wave uselessly to everyone as we walk out the door, the house still deadly silent after my sudden outburst.

Once we get outside, Peeta takes my face in his hands, inspecting the damage his mother's slap had done.

"Please don't be angry" I whisper as his eyes fill with tears.

"I'm not angry with you" he murmurs as he leans forward and places tender kisses over my cheek where i'm sure there is still a hand print.

"Don't be angry, just forget about it" I sigh, leaning into him as his scent brings me comfort.

"She hurt you" his voice is full of pain.

"Yes but she hurt you too, for many years. Neither of us knew that was going to happen. And i'm ok now, i'm safe" I assure him as I reach up and press a kiss to his lips. He draws me in close, sighing into the kiss as he kisses me back fiercely.

Once we break away we don't let go of each other. I hold him tightly against me, our body's completely flush. His arms are wrapped securely around my waist as I tighten my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. We stand there on the side of the road, completely in our own little world of comfort, not even realising that the worst in our lives was yet to come.


	26. Chapter 26

It has been a week since the incident at the Mellark's house. After we got home and Peeta nursed an ice pack to my face, and my upper arm, nobody spoke of the incident again. Trying to erase all thoughts from memory. Prim hadn't question what happened, but instead helped Peeta with caring for me, her chosen profession as a nurse helping to a huge extent. This past week I have started back work at Haymitch's bar, saving up enough money until I can eventually afford to buy my own apartment and get off Peeta's back. I have been working non stop. Partly to earn more money and also to keep my mind busy from unwanted thoughts.

I've worked all day today, from opening until 2am. And it's just after two now as I walk the streets alone. Peeta had been worried when I told him I was working until closing. He had offered to come and walk me home, he didn't want me wandering the streets alone at this time of the night, well, morning. I had refused his help though. Because as much as I wish I had Peeta here to keep me safe, he too has worked all day, and still needs to wake up early for work.

I hug my jacket around me tightly as I walk, my only source of light are the murky, dim street lights. I sigh with relief when I round the corner to the house unscathed. I practically run up the drive and pull the key out from under the pot plant. Once inside I go upstairs, i'm desperate for a shower, i'm sure I reek of cigarettes and alcohol. I flip on the light to my room, grabbing my pyjamas and a towel and then creeping into the bathroom. I make sure to shut the door as silently as possible, not wanting to wake up Peeta or Prim.

After my shower I crawl into bed and almost immediately fall asleep.

"Katniss!" I hear a scream, one that I know only too well. I startle and sit up in bed quickly, waiting to see if it was real or just in a dream. "Katniss!" I hear again and I don't know if Peeta is awake or not but his voice is frantic, scared. Quickly I try and untangle myself from the covers, wanting to get to Peeta. I hear a door slam open against the wall down the hall and freeze, I hear footsteps running down the hall and not a moment later my door flings open. Peeta stands at the doorway, his chest heaving. In two quick strides he in on my bed and pulling me into his arms.

"Hey it's ok, your safe" I whisper as I play with the small waves of hair at the nape of his neck.

"I had a nightmare, that you didn't come home and then when I woke up and you weren't next to me..." he trails off though he doesn't need to tell me anymore for me to know what he's trying to say.

"I'm safe Peeta" I whisper hugging him fiercely. This past week Peeta and I have taken to going into each other's rooms after a nightmare or if we just want to feel safe. He probably had just freaked out after not seeing me asleep next to him and dreaming I had never come home.

He hugs me tightly and then kisses me deeply, his fingers tangling in my hair. I kiss him back with as much as I can possibly pour into the kiss. Over the past week our relationship as really taken a promising step. Although we are taking it slow, we both know it's something we want to keep.

He pushes me back down to the bed, not breaking his lips from mine. I let him hover over me as he kisses me. We continue to kiss until i'm sure he needs to sleep, he still does have to get up early in the morning.

"Peeta" I say breaking away.

"What?" he mumbles as he starts to kiss my neck and along my jaw.

"You need to sleep" I murmur, running my fingers through his hair.

"I don't want to sleep" he whispers against my skin.

"I know but you need to, your tired" I try to reason with him and eventually he gives in on trying to kiss me and pulls the covers up over us. I roll over so my back is facing him and he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me back against him. I close my eyes and try to sleep, but Peeta falls before I do. His breaths even out as his fingers curl around mine.

I close my eyes and snuggle down closer to him, and slowly, sleep pulls me under.

I startle awake when I feel a pair of lips on mine, soft and almost nonexistent.

"Relax, it's only me" I hear Peeta murmur against my lips.

"Are you leaving?" I mumble, forcing my eyes to stay at least half open.

"Yes, I'll see you tonight" he kisses me again and then brushes the hair back from my face.

"Bye" I whisper just as I fall back asleep.

Later that day, as I walk home from work, I can't stop the smile from spreading across my face. Haymitch's just paid me for my weeks work, and I have to admit working all day and night every night has certainly paid off. Not to mention I managed to convince Haymitch to give me a pay rise. I now have enough money to broach the subject of finding an apartment for me and Prim to Peeta. I just hope he won't be too opposed to the idea.

We are all sitting around the table eating dinner when I decide now would be a good time.

"Uh Peeta, in a few weeks I think I will have enough money saved up to rent one of the apartments in the seam" I say quietly, looking down at my plate and avoiding looking at him.

"What?" I hear Prim ask confused right as Peeta's fork clatters to his plate.

"What do you mean? Do you not want to live here anymore?" He asks worried.

"It's not that I don't want to live here" I say calmly "I just, you surely want your own space back and Prim and I can live here forever."

"But Katniss I want to stay here" Prim whines.

"When were you planning on telling me that's what you were working extra hours for?" Peeta asks, his voice is low and I can tell he is angry.

"I've only just started working overtime, I knew I needed to get my own apartment" I say.

"Katniss why would you waste money on an old and broken down apartment in the seam, when you can live here for free? Is there something you don't like or want?" Peeta asks desperately.

"No of course not" I beg "I love it here, living with you. But I can't stay here forever."

Peeta stands up from the table abruptly. "I don't want to fight. I just need to calm down before I say something I regret" he says lowly.

I stand up too, the chair legs scraping against the floor. "Don't just walk away when you know your losing" I call out, knowing that I am letting my temper get the best of me.

"In not the one walking away Katniss!" He snaps "your trying to leave me, remember?"

"I am not! I want to live with you!" I yell "don't you want your privacy back?"

"No I don't! He yells "not when i'm with you!" His face is red and his fists clench angrily at his sides. "What are you supposed to do now when you wake screaming from a nightmare. When you watch me die in your dream and i'm not there to let you know i'm alive. Huh?"

My breath catches in my throat. I hadn't thought of that. "We can figure that out as the time comes" I say trying to reason with him.

"I just...I don't care right now. I just need to be alone" he says blankly as he walks out the door, slamming it behind him and making the windows shake. I don't know how long I stand there frozen for, but it's Prim's warm hand on my back that brings me to realisation.

"I sorry you had to see that" I whisper, she shakes her head, indicating that it's okay. "I just..." I choke up as tears make my eyes go glassy. "I thought he would be happy. I wanted him to be happy for me. I've finally earned enough money to put it towards something good in my life."

"I know Katniss" Prim says as she pulls me into a hug. I cry into her shoulder.

"I had this vision. It was stupid really, but I though after I told him he would help me look for a place decent enough to stay in with a cheap rent. We would sit on the bed and he would advise me of all the stupid insignificant things I had to watch out for according to him." Prim laughs softly.

"He'll come around, just give him some time" she whispers as she squeezes me tightly and then let's go, moving to clean up the dishes. I go to help her but she brushes me away, telling me to go up and get ready for bed. Despite it still being fairly early in the night, I go upstairs and brush my teeth and pull on my pyjamas. I practically dive into bed, burying myself under the covers, hoping and praying that Peeta won't stay angry at me for long.


	27. Chapter 27

Peeta doesn't come home. I spend the whole night tossing and turning, trying to hear the front door open and the creak of the stairs as he walks up to his bedroom. But nothing but silence creeps through the house. Around 2am I feel my pillow start to grow wet as my tears drop onto the White cotton. I roll over and pray that he will come home as worry starts to flood throughout my body. But when 4am hits the clock I let out a choked sob, giving up on hoping for him to come home, or coming to my bed to hug me and apologise. I slowly drift off into a restless sleep, in that place halfway between sleep and awake.

I wake up with a start when I hear a loud bang echo through the house. I jump up startled as I glare at the clock groggily. 4:33am, I've only been asleep for half an hour. I sit up on my elbows, waiting frozen for another sound to come. I hear another thump, as though someone had just walked into a wall. I feel my heartbeat quicken at the possibility that Peeta may have finally come home; unless it's Prim sleepwalking.

I crawl out of bed, opening the door a crack and peeking out into the darkened hallway. Whoever it is, they're on the stairs, seemingly having trouble walking up them. I walk down the hall slowly, looking down the flight of stairs at an extremely drunk Peeta. I sigh out a breath of relief that he is home. He looks up at me and a grin breaks out on his face before he tries to scramble up the stairs, only to slip and fall forward with a grunt.

I rush forward, halfway down the stairs and help Peeta stand up, it's a struggle, he is much bigger than I am, I have no muscle whatsoever. "Oh Peeta" I sigh as I help him walk up the rest of the stairs and to his bedroom, "what have you done." I lay him down on the bed and he stares up at me.

"Katniss i'm so...so...sorry" he mumbles as his eyes fight to stay open, it's obvious he's been drinking and I can't help the guilt that rushes through me, this was my fault.

"Shhh" I murmur, brushing back some of his curls from his face. He leans his face into my touch and then reaches up and tangles his fingers in my hair behind my head, pulling me down to kiss him. He tastes like alcohol and I immediately pull away. "No" I tell him sternly and he pouts "i'm not kissing you when you reek of alcohol."

"Katnus" He whines as he reaches up for me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...i'm not bad... I just want..." He huffs when he can't think of the words. I lean down and kiss his cheek.

"It's ok, we'll talk in the morning" he nods sleepily as he closes his eyes. I creep out of the room and back to mine, finally able to sleep peacefully, knowing that Peeta is safe.

The next morning I walk up before Prim and Peeta, despite having very little sleep. I shuffle into the kitchen, past Prim who is asleep on the fold out bed in the living room. I flick the switch on the coffee pot, preparing it exactly how Peeta showed me when I first moved here. I sit down at the counter, resting my head in my hands as my eyes droop. They feel so heavy, like lead.

I look up when I hear footsteps moments later and Prim comes into the kitchen, looking better rested than most of us. "Did Peeta come home last night?" She asks as she pours mugs of coffee for the both of us. I nod tiredly with a sigh and I can see she knows something was wrong. "What happened?" She asks.

"He was drunk, and it was my fault."

"Oh no, Katniss it's not your fault. You were both upset and these things happen sometimes. Yeah? And besides, at least he came home, it could have been a lot worse." I look up at her, only now realising how much my baby sister has grown up in the time we spent apart.

"I should talk to you more often little duck" I say "you always have a bright side to the bad" she smiles at me and reaches over to hug me. I wrap her up in my arms tightly, remember how long it has been since I got the chance to hug my sister whenever I want. "Your growing up so fast" I say as I pull away and she shakes her head.

"I'll always be your little sister" she murmurs, just as we hear a groan and an extremely disheveled Peeta stumbles into the kitchen, pouring himself a large mug of coffee and downing the whole thing quickly. "I'll just be in the shower" Prim's says not so subtly as she scrambles out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Peeta slumps down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. I stand up and walk over to him, crouching in front of him. "Hey" I murmur and he groans.

"Hey" he rests his head on his hand, "I am never drinking again" he complains.

"I bet that's what you said last time" I smirk and he shakes his head as he reaches out and pulls me down so i'm sitting sideways in his lap. I reach my arm around him, playing with the small hairs at the nape of his neck.

"Katniss i'm so sorry" I says as his arms wrap around my waist and he hugs me as best he can while i'm sitting on his lap with this.

"Don't be, it was my fault, I should never have brought it up, I was stupid for wanting to move to my own place."

"No, I don't want to hold you back from what you want, if you want to move out then I'll allow it" he says.

I shake my head "I want you Peeta. I don't want to move out, I've thought about it properly now."

"You...want me?" He asks as though the thought is hard to understand. I nod, only now realising the true implications of the words.

"Yes" I breath out, resting my forehead against his.

"Will you kiss me now? I promise I brushed my teeth so I don't stink of alcohol anymore" he asks and I laugh as I lean down and press my lips against his. His hands run up and down my arms as our lips tangle together again and again. I clutch myself closer to him, just wanting to be near him. I pull away and press another quick kiss to his lips before jumping off his lap.

"So what are we doing today? I ask knowing it's Sunday and nobody has work. I grab his hand and pull him up off the chair.

"First I need something for this headache" he says as he moves to the medicine cabinet. "And then, we're going to a lunch with Finnick and Annie and some other friends from work."

I nod as Prim comes stumbling down the stairs "can I come too Peeta?" she asks and he nods.

"Yeah if Katniss says it's ok." Prim looks to me and I nod my head. A smiles lights over her face as she runs back up the stairs, i'm assuming to get ready. I follow her up the stairs to get ready, hoping that this is going to be just a laid back day.

We arrive at Finnick and Ellen's house and the first thing I notice is music coming from the backyard. Peeta leads us through the house and I stay close behind him, clutching at his arm and hand tightly, knowing that many people from his work are going to be here. Prim flows behind us excitedly, meeting new people never fazed prim much, even when she was little.

The backyard isn't full of people, but there are enough unknown faces to make me nervous. Peeta squeezes my hand as prim dances ahead of us, already introducing herself to people. "Peeta!" I hear a girl yell out and I turn around to see Ellen coming towards us. She wraps Peeta in a hug and then surprises me by hugging me too. I hug her back with one arm, my other hand still holding Peeta's.

"It's so good to see you guys again" she gushes as her and Peeta take up a a conversation immediately. I stand there awkwardly, looking around at all the unfamiliar faces.

"Peeta!" Another voice calls out "I see you brought brainless with you." We both turn around to see Johanna walking towards us with a man with dark hair and olive skin behind her. I recognise her as the person who answered the staffroom door when I went to visit Peeta last week. I internally groan, she had been, admittedly, quite intimidating.

"Hey Johanna, Gale" he nods at the man behind her and they shake hands. "Katniss I knew you've met Johanna briefly-"

"We had a nice chat that day" Johanna cuts in and then motions for Peeta to continue.

"-anyway this is her boyfriend, sort of, Gale. He also works the school." I nod at him nervously as he says a quick hello.

After a brief talk between Peeta and the others, he drags me off to meet other people. I am suddenly overwhelmed at the amount of new people, I've never liked meeting new people, ever since I was a little girl. Although I feel bad for not making a greater attempt at blending in with his rich town friends, I am just about to ask Peeta how long we have to stay, when I feel a hand grab at my behind causing me to yell out and jump up.

I turn around and am met with a blond man, he had blue eyes though not anywhere near as azure as Peeta's. They are a cold, steel blue and his hair is short. "What's wrong?" Peeta asks me and I scowl at the man.

"He just grabbed my ass" I say annoyed, sending a glare at the man. I feel Peeta's fingers untangle from mine and I am about to protest when his arm wraps protectively around my waist, pulling me close to his side.

"Don't touch her Cato" he practically spits. His eyes flare angrily as he glares at the man.

The man puts his hand up defensively "ok, ok man, I didn't realise she was your property" he teases and Peeta's grip on my waist tightens.

"Just go away" Peeta growls and the man smirks and winks at me before turning away and sauntering up to a blond girl with too much make up caked on her face.

"I'm sorry" he says turning to me, his hands resting on my hips.

"It's ok" I whisper "I just wasn't expecting it."

"Yeah well Cato is always like that, you just have to learn to ignore him, though I can say I won't beat him up if he even so much as looks at you again."

I want to say something, but I can't seems to think of the right words. Instead I ignore all the other people and lean up and kiss him lightly. I mean for it to be only a short kiss for him to know I care about him, but Peeta seems to think short isn't good enough when I pull away. He cups my face in his hands and pulls my mouth back to his. I close my eyes and try to forget about all the other people who could be watching this. I hear a wolf-whistle and then pull away from him. Burying my face in his shirt to hide my blush as Peeta's chest shakes as he laughs.


	28. Chapter 28

Peeta manages to convince me into dancing. I hate dancing, I literally have two left feet. It's those damn convincing blue eyes of his. I can see Ellen and Finnick talking to Prim as Peeta leads me over to a large patch of grass where a couple of other people are dancing to the music in the background. Peeta pulls me close and hugs me close to him.

"It's your birthday next week" he murmurs into my ear. I look at him confused.

"How did you-Prim" I sigh knowing that despite my plea's, she must have told Peeta it was my birthday soon.

"Why didn't you want me to know?" He asks brushing his lips across my forehead. I shrug lazily.

"I don't know, I just, it's never really been important to me, just another year I had to live through the hell my life is." I say disheartened by the change in conversation.

"Katniss" Peeta sighs placing a finger under my chin and lifting my face up to meet his gaze. "I think you are so important, don't ever doubt that. Your birthday is definitely something to celebrate."

I nod, not because I agree with him, but because I don't want to continue this conversation right now. I warp my arms around his neck and pull him close to me. Just wanting to be trapped in his hug, not caring for once what people think of me. After the song ends and lunch is ready, Peeta takes my hand and pulls me towards the table. There is a wide range of sweets and salads, roast meat and cold meat. Peeta hands me a plate and I thank him before we move down the table, piling whatever food we want onto our plate. I don't take much, just some salad and meat, I can come back for dessert later on.

The chairs are all set out in a large circle, I take a seat next to Peeta and rest my plate on my lap and the other chairs start to slowly fill with other people from Peeta's work. A loud chatter breaks out over the backyard as people devour their meals. I pick at my salad, not really feeling particularly hungry.

I feel Peeta'a hand on my leg and I look up from my plate, his eyes full of concern. "Hey are you ok?" He asks.

I look down at my plate and "yeah, i'm just not feeling too well, I have a headache and i'm still tired from being awake most of last night" I tell him.

"Do you want to go home now?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No you and Prim are having a good time, i'll be fine" I say and he nods slowly. Turning back to his conversation, though his keeps his hand resting on my thigh, I place my hand over his and he flips it up the other way and entwines our fingers together.

I sit quietly while everyone else finishes lunch. I'm extremely thankful when it's time to leave, i'm so tired from the lack of sleep last night that I feel like I might possibly pass out at any time. Peeta wraps an arm around my waist to steady me when I start stumbling along. He says goodbye to everyone and we head home, at least it's not a long walk, I feel as though I may drop dead at any moment, my eyes are heavy and leaded.

We are about halfway home when Peeta must get annoyed at my stumbling because he picks me up into his arms and starts to carry me. I start to protest but he doesn't listen to me as he just holds me tighter to him. Eventually I give up and snuggle down into his arms, drifting off into sleep.

I wake up the next morning wrapped in a cocoon of warm blankets. I bury my face down into them further to keep my nose warm. I continue to doze for another ten minutes before I realise I should probably get out of bed. I sit up and rub my eyes looking around Peeta's bedroom. He's not here so I would only assume he's eating breakfast before he has to leave for work.

I pull on one of Peeta's hoodies and pull the sleeves down over my hands, hugging myself as I trudge down the stairs. Peeta is placing a plate of pancakes in front of Prim. He looks up when he hears me coming into the kitchen area.

"Morning beautiful" he smiles as he places another two plates of pancakes on the table, gesturing for me to sit down. I blush at his term of endearment, knowing that i'm certainly not beautiful.

Prim however, disagrees as her face lights up excitedly. "Oh you guys are so adorable together, are you going to get married soon?"

I feel my eyes widen as I look down at my plate "Prim..." I start warningly.

"Not yet Primmy" Peeta says ruffling her hair as he sits down opposite me. "We haven't been going out for very long."

Prim sighs as she turns back to her pancakes. Peeta looks up at me. "Hey Katniss, Ellie wanted to know if you could watch over Audrey today, she and Clement both have to work and the daycare she usually goes to is closed today?" Peeta asks me as I start on my breakfast.

I feel my eyes go wide, I don't know how to look after a kid, and I respond the only way I can think of at the minute to try and pass off my nervousness. "Will she leave me instructions? Like how often she needs to be watered?"

Prim snorts into her juice and Peeta raises his eyebrows at me. "Kat you don't have to..."

"No I want to I just...don't know how" I explain poorly, i'm nearly twenty years old and I don't know how to look after a three year old girl.

"Don't worry about it, you'll know exactly what to do" Peeta assures me.

"Um ok then" I say standing up and taking my plate to the kitchen. "I'm just going to get ready then" I call out and tread upstairs to get dressed and washed up.

Peeta walks me to Ellie and Simon's house before he goes to work, since I didn't know where I was going. Audrey comes running up to me the second we are in the door, clinging onto my leg tightly.

"She really likes her" Ellie says and I nod at her, not really knowing what to say. Peeta gives me a quick kiss as he leaves since he needs to get to the school. Ellie explains everything I need to do, which basically consists of feeding her and letting her watch only one movie. I nod as Audrey starts rubbing her face against my leg while she clings on.

"Ok now here's a list of mine and Simon's phone numbers and also our work if you need to call for anything, the phone is in the kitchen" she says as she hands me a piece of paper with the numbers on it and walks out the door, kissing Audrey one last time. Once the door closes it really hits me, ok I have to babysit a three year old today, I can do this.

I go to walk into the living room but stop immediately when I can't move my left leg since Audrey is still attached to it. I bend down and hoist her up onto my hip, carrying her into the room where I can see she has started colouring in a drawing book, her pencils litter the table.

"Are we going to have fun Katniss?" She asks as a curl which has escaped her ponytail falls into her face.

"We can have tones of fun" I say and she giggles loudly as I set her down on the chair and sit opposite her.

"You can draw too Katniss" she states as she picks up her orange pencil and starts to colour in an outline of a sun. I nod as I pick up a green pencil and pull another colouring book towards me. I watch her as she colours in, her tongue poking slightly as she concentrates on her picture.

After a good few hours spent on colouring Audrey states she is hungry, I immediately start to panic, Ellie didn't mention anything about what food she eats. I remind myself to breath as I walk into the kitchen, Audrey following me closely behind on her small legs.

"What do you normally eat for lunch Audrey?" I ask and she rocks back and forth on her heels as she thinks before lifting her hands up and shrugging. I sigh and start digging through the cupboards.

"That's no help missy" I say and she giggles. I find a loaf of bread and turn to her, "your stuck with toast" I say and she smiles.

"That's ok, I like toast" she says as she scrambles up onto the barstool. I make her the toast and then spread jam over the two pieces, sliding the plate in front of her. She eats the toast while I sit and watch her.

"Can we watch a movie Katniss?" She asks once she's finished and I nod.

"Why don't you go and pick one out while I wash your plate" I say and she yells out before running off into the living room. I clean the plate and follow her in there. She is already sitting on the couch with a large blanket and a movie on in the DVD player. I go to sit down but she calls out quickly.

"You have to make the darkness" she says and I look at her confused.

"The what?" I ask looking around.

"The darkness" she says pointing to the curtains.

"Oh" I say as I walk over and pull the curtains down, effectively blocking out all the sunlight.

I go back to the couch and sit down, Audrey crawls into my lap and I wrap the blanket around us as she pushes the play button and the movie starts. "What movie is this?" I ask since I've only ever seen the movies I've watched at Peeta's house.

"It's Cinderella" she says "you should know that Katniss" she scolds and I just wrap my arms around her as we start to watch the movie. I've never even heard of Cinderella before. And before I know it the sleepiness is getting to me as my eyes start to flutter closed. I try and stay awake because the movie is actually surprisingly good but eventually I can't fight it when I look down and see Audrey asleep in my arms, and that's how we both fall asleep.

Audrey and I both wake up when Ellie arrives home. She thanks me for watching Audrey and tries to pay me money but I refuse. Audrey kisses my cheek when I leave and hugs me tightly. "I'll see you soon ok" I tell her before I walk out the front door.

The walk home is seemingly uneventful. The streets are unusually quiet for this time of the day, it's after school hours so there should be kids playing on the streets or something. I am intent on heading straight home however when I pass the woods I can't help but stop slowly, gazing into the trees. It brings back so many memories.

Without thinking I veer off the path and walk into the maze of trees. I am surprised at how well I still know the woods. I quickly find the tree I used to call my home. Before Peeta came along and gave me everything I could have ever asked for and more. I spend a good twenty minutes just gazing around at all the trees, taking in the wildlife. It's been so long since I used to rise and fall with the birds.

I soon realise I need to start heading back when it starts to get dark. Peeta will be worried and wondering why I haven't arrived home yet. I walk back out of the woods but not before I get the sense that someone is watching me. I stop walking to silence the sounds of my footsteps and listen out for anything, looking around between the trees. But can't see anything other than the growing darkness.

I continue to walk out of the woods but still the feeling that i'm being watched follows me and I practically end up running out of the woods and all the way home.

Peeta is waiting outside the front door for me. When he sees me coming down the road he runs about and traps me in a hug. "Oh thank god, I was so worried, where were you?" He asks as he kisses me deeply before I get a chance to respond. When he pulls away I mumble out that I was in the woods and I can tell he wants to yell, he's angry.

"Katniss" he says trying to stay calm "please stay away from there. I don't want you getting hurt" he says as he pulls me in for another hug, and I don't need to say anything, I just hold onto him tightly.


	29. Chapter 29

"Hey Katniss" I hear Peeta call from downstairs. I finish putting away the clothes I had been folding and walk down the stairs to him. He's sitting on the couch, fidgeting nervously.

"Is something wrong?" I ask sitting down next to him. He turns to face me.

"No of course not. I just have to give you something" he holds out a phone to me. I stare at him confused my eyes flitting between the phone in the palm of his hand and his eyes. "It got you a phone, to call or text whenever you need. I can't stand having you being out and alone and not knowing if your safe or not."

"Peeta-"

"No! I know you will say you don't need it; but please take it. It will make me feel so much better."

I sigh in defeat and take the phone from his hand, turning it over and over. "Peeta I don't even know how to work this thing."

"Then I'll show you" he murmurs softly. I nod and lean up and press a kiss to his cheek to say thank you. Because most of the time I don't know how to react to someone taking care of me, it's been nearly twelve years since both my parents died. It takes me awhile to figure it out and get the hand of it, but eventually Peeta is able to show me how to send a text and call him, he put his number on speed dial.

"It's you birthday tomorrow" he says wrapping me in his arms as we curl up on the couch.

"I know. Please don't make a big fuss out of it, it's nothing special."

"Well i'm going to make it special" he says kissing my forehead. I close my eyes and take in the silence and the warmth of his strong arms wrapped around me.

"You know I have to work tomorrow, and so do you. It's still a Friday" I tell him.

"I know, but I talked to Haymitch and managed to convince him for you to not work until closing time. So we can celebrate, and also I think Prim was going to stay at her friends house, she wasn't very discrete though when she was organising it on the phone" he laughs.

I turn around in his lap and wrap my arms around his neck, "really?" He nods a smile lighting up both his and my faces.

The next morning I wake up when Peeta crawls out of the bed and starts to get ready for work. I start dozing in and out of sleep until he comes over and leans over the bed, kissing me deeply. "Happy birthday beautiful" he whispers and I smile sleepily.

"Thank you" I murmur snuggling down into the blankets. I feel Peeta brush my hair back from my face and then kiss my forehead before leaving for work.

I wake up again when my alarm goes off for work. After showering and eating pancakes which Peeta left in the fridge, I pull on my jacket and lock the front door behind me. The walk down to Haymitch's bar is uneventful. Though I can't say as much for when I get inside. Because the place is already surprisingly full, considering it's only nearly lunch time.

I rush behind the bar and start taking orders, helping the other staff serve. Once the rush is over and everyone has their orders and drinks, I sigh and lean back against the counter.

"Well that was unusual for this time of the day" Clove says. I nod and push myself off the counter.

"I better go fill in the record sheet to say I got here an hour ago" I say and she smiles widely before going to back to drying some of the glasses. After filling in the start time for my time sheet, I go out the front and help Clove clear tables and wash and dry dishes.

The hours go by slowly and I really just want to go home. Like every year it doesn't even feel like my birthday. That's mostly because nobody here at work knows about it. Haymitch would be the only one that does know, but since he's the boss he doesn't come in until later in the night. When 6:00pm finally comes around I sign off my time sheet and grab my bag, slinging it over my shoulder as I wave Clove goodbye. It takes me awhile but eventually I manage to send Peeta a text letting him know i'm on my way home. It's strange carrying a phone, it's almost like I want to wrap it in bubble wrap; I've never had something as fragile and expensive as this before. I'm afraid i'm going to break it.

When I finally get home and shut the door behind me, I can't help but notice how quiet the house is. "Peeta?" I call out walking though the house and putting my jacket and bag on the table in the entrance hall. I walk through to the dinning room and freeze in surprise as a gasp escapes me. Peeta has laid out a massive range of foods on the table and set it up perfectly, with candles and plates and silver cutlery.

I feel two arms wrap around me from behind and I sink back into his body. "Did you do all this?" I ask in awe and I feel him kiss my neck and nod. I turn around in his arms. "You didn't have to."

"I know, but I wanted to."

I stutter on my words as they get confused in my mind. I don't know how to tell him how much this means to me; I've never been good at talking. I lean up and press my lips to his greedily, just needing to thank him somehow without making a fool of myself. His arms grip my hips as he pulls me closer to him. His lips taste like chocolate, which make me think he has already tasted the dessert for tonight. When we pull away our foreheads join.

"Nobody has ever done something like this for me before" I tell him softly and he shakes his head slowly before leaning forward and kissing me again.

"I'm going to do it for you all the time" he whispers, grabbing my hand and leading me over to the table, helping me into my seat by pulling it out for me. The food was amazing, cheese buns and chicken parmigiana and chocolate mousse and cake with strawberries and cream. I feel like I might explode if I eat any more.

Peeta is laying on the couch when I come back from the bathroom, I go over and climb onto the couch with him, curling against him.

"Your officially 20 now" he says and I laugh.

"Yes and your 21; 22 in October" I say and he nods. We lay there in silence for awhile. Just enjoying the quiet.

"Hey Peeta?" I say quietly.

"Hmmm?" He murmurs softly, too relaxed to talk.

"Thank you for tonight, really. Nobody has ever done something that nice for me before, you've done so many amazing things for me. I don't know if I would ever be able to repay you for your kindness."

"Katniss, you don't owe me anything, I want to do these things for you, you just being here with me and safe is payment enough" he says taking my hand and entwining our fingers.

"But what if we break up?" I ask, my voice suddenly becoming choked. We have only been together for a few weeks but already I know that I need him in my life.

"We're not going to break up. Because I want forever, is that want you want?" He says softly and I feel my heartbeat accelerate at his confession.

"Yes" I say, "I've always wanted to have a forever, ever since I was little. But when Prim died and I had to live in the orphanage and in the woods, I thought...I thought that nobody would ever want me." I feel a tear slip down my face and see pain reflected in Peeta's eyes.

"Well I do, I want you. Now that I have you, i'm not letting you go" he says and leans forward to kiss me. I close my eyes and feel the tears escape as I kiss him back with as much passion as I can pass over. He pulls away and pulls out a box from his pocket. "Happy birthday" he says kissing my cheek as I take the small box in my hand, staring at it intently.

"Peeta you already got me the phone yesterday, that was enough" I protest but he shakes his head and closes his hand around mine.

"Just open it." He sighs rubbing small circles on my back. I untie the ribbon from around the box and open it. I gasp, my hand covering my mouth instantly when I see it. The pearl shines in the light, sitting on the cusion of pure white. The pearl is attached to a chain, so that I can hang it around my neck.

"Peeta" I gasp, taking the necklace from the box. "It's beautiful" I feel tears spring into my eyes. No, don't cry, stop being ridiculous. But the tears fall anyway, ignoring my internal plea's.

Peeta takes the necklace from me and I turn around in his lap and move my hair to the side so he can put it on me. "Thank you, I love it" I say kissing him, trying to pour how much I love it and care about him into the kiss.

"I'm glad you like it" he says wrapping me in his arms.

"It's perfect." I whisper as I gaze at the pearl. "I'm never going to take it off." I curl down in his arms as we slowly drift off to sleep, just enjoying the quiet of having the house to ourselves.

"Stay with me?" I ask, him as I kiss the base of his neck.

"Always" he murmurs, running his fingers though my hair softly.


	30. Chapter 30

A rock. That is the only way to describe Ellen's engagement ring, Finnick certainly wasn't holding out when he bought the huge diamond. Ellen bounces around excitedly as she shows off her new piece of jewellery to everyone she comes across. I watch as Peeta talks with Finnick, his hands moving animatedly as he describes something to him. "Katniss!" Ellen calls outs as she waves me over, I make my way over to where she is sitting, my sister having just vacated the spot next to her.

"Guess what" she practically jumps with excitement, taking my hands in hers. I can feel the band of her new ring pressing against the back of my hand.

"Um what?" I say, following her line of sight and looking at Peeta and Finnick who are also looking back at us. Finnick nods her her and she turns back to me, smiling brightly.

"I'm pregnant" she exclaims and I stare at her in shock.

"Seriously?" I ask, completely shocked at her having an engagement and a baby announcement. She nods excitedly, "i'm not far along so we don't have any ultrasounds yet, but i'll be sure to show you as soon as we do!" Her hazel eyes are completely lit up as she talks about her future with Finnick.

I can't help but be extremely happy for her, she's practically my best friend and she's so lucky to have a guy like Finnick, someone who I know will cherish her to the moon and back. I look over at Peeta right as he starts laughing at something Finnick has obviously just told him. I can't help but imagine a future between us, a wedding and then children, who look the majority like Peeta, but to have enough of my DNA in them so that people can see that they are mine; and that Peeta is mine.

"Katniss" Ellen snaps me back to reality, a place where Peeta and I are just starting out as a couple. nowhere near having children and getting married. "You zoned out a little bit there" Ellen smirks as she looks at me knowingly. I shrug, not letting her get to me or my stupid mind tricks.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around to see Peeta there, his blue eyes unusually brighter than normal, with Finnick next to him. "you ready go Ellen?" he asks. she nods and stands up, offering me a hug as she does so.

"It was great seeing you guys again" she says and I nod in agreement.

"Congratulations too, on the engagement and the baby" I say as I stand up from the couch and Peeta's arms wrap around my waist. No sooner have they left, then the phone is ringing, the shrill alarm echoing through the house.

Peeta moves into the kitchen to answer it. i trailer behind him slowly. "Yeah let me just ask her" he says into the phone. "Prim wants to know if she can bring her new boyfriend for dinner...something about wanting our approval."

Prim has a boyfriend? And a phone now too apparently, i'll have to talk to Peeta about that later on. But a boyfriend? "Um what? I didn't know she had a boyfriend" I say shrilly, my voice raising an octave.

"Yeah Katniss, that's why she wants to bring him over, for you to meet him" Peeta says trying to calm me down.

"She's too young to have a boyfriend! She's only just about to turn seventeen in a couple of weeks!" I cry, raising my hands up in the air to help prove my point.

"Katniss relax, Prim is sensible and you need to at least meet him, okay."

I sigh in defeat, running my hands through my upbraided hair. "Fine, whatever. But I swear if he so much as looks at her the wrong way, I will-"

"Katniss! Chill" Peeta exasperates as he puts the phone to his ear again and starts to tell Prim that's it's alright. I stomp off into the living room, flicking the television on and curling up on the couch, not really paying much attention to what is on the screen. I doze in and out of sleep and watching the TV for a few hours until I here the front door open and close, Prim calling out that they are here. I hurl myself off the couch and walk into the kitchen where I know Peeta has been making dinner.

Prim is standing there introducing Peeta to her so called boyfriend. He is taller than Prim, and his hair is a dark brown, his skin is has an olive tone and his eyes are also a brown.

"Katniss" Prim smiles when she sees me walk in. "This is Rory, he's Gale Hawthorne's brother" she explains. Gale. That name sounds familiar, though I can't place where from.

"He's Johanna's boyfriend" Peeta explains, sensing my confusion. I remember the guy who Johanna was tagging around at Ellen and Finnick lunch the other day, it was true that Rory looked very similar to him.

"It's nice to meet you" I say, trying to be nice, to be fair, the poor boy did look extremely nervous. Peeta reaches out and wraps his arm around my waist, drawing me close to him, he must sense my worries about Prim.

We are all silent for awhile until the sound of the timer on the oven rings out, breaking us all from our little bubbles. Peeta lets go of my waist to get the dinner out and I grab the stack of plates and cutlery off the bench and move to set the table. Prim and Rory take a seat next to each other and I sit down opposite Prim, waiting for Peeta who eventually sets the dinner on the table and sits down next to me.

We eat the pasta bake in silence for awhile until eventually I know i'm going to have to talk to Rory. "So tell me about yourself Rory" I say looking at him while I take a drink.

"Kat" Prim sighs "don't say it like your interrogating him!"

"But I am interrogating him" I reason gesturing for Rory to start telling me. He fidgets nervously with his fork.

"Um well I have two brothers and a little sister, Gale, Vick and Posy. I'm seventeen...um." He starts to struggle for words, thinking of what to say while his nerves get the better of him. Eventually Peeta cuts in.

"Basically Katniss just wants to know if your a serial killer or if you've ever murdered someone."

Rory looks between me and Peeta quickly, his eyes widening, "no...I of course not!" He stutters. Peeta reaches out and takes my hand under the table. I nod at Prim, telling her that he is approved of, though I do send a warning glare in Rory's direction. Letting him np know that if he so much as steps one foot out of line, he better watch out."

After Rory has left and Prim is in bed, Peeta and I head upstairs to get ready for bed. Once we have both brushed our teeth and are standing in the hall between our two bedrooms, Peeta looks at me expectantly.

"Where are you sleeping?" He asks and I don't even think about my answer before it comes tumbling from my lips.

"I don't want to be alone, I sleep better when i'm with you, I don't have as many nightmares." Peeta nods, his faces flooding with relief and I know he feels the same way. Peeta takes my hand and leads me down to his room. We climb under the covers and instantly I curl up against his side, his arms wrapping around me tightly.

"I know you worry about Prim" He murmurs, brushing his fingers though my hair. "But you have to let her grow up at some point."

"I know, but it's hard when I missed so much of her life" I say, tears springing to my eyes when I realised just how much of her life I missed. "I didn't see her for nearly nine year Peeta, do you know how much that can do to a person, when you have nobody in your life for nine years."

Peeta kisses my temple reaching over and pulling me so i'm lying on top of him, crushing my body to his in a hug. I sob into his shoulder, my fingers grabbing his shirt and hair. Peeta doesn't say anything as I cry, he just rubs small circles on my back and weaves his fingers in and out of my hair. Eventually my sobs cease and my eyes grow heavy with drowsiness, and that's how we both fall asleep, lying together, wrapped in each other's arms.

The next morning I wake before Peeta leaves. He is just taking the last few bites from his toast and putting the plate in the sink when I trundle down the stairs, my arms hugging my body.

"Good morning beautiful" he says, coming over and kissing me on the forehead softly. I smile up at him as I head towards the coffee pot.

"Will you be home at the Normal time tonight? I ask, hoping that he won't be staying at the school later.

He nods his head "yeah I should be home around four."

At that moment Prim comes bouncing into the room, kissing both Peeta and I on the cheek before heading towards the front door. "I'll be back later today, i'm going over to Rory's" she calls as she slams the door behind her.

I glare at the closed door, Peeta rests his hand on my back, "don't baby her" he whispers in my ear.

I bring my shoulder up to rub it against my ear where his breath tickled me. "Are you leaving now too?" He looks at his watch and then nods. I walk with him to the front door, my arms crossed over my chest.

Peeta reaches out and grabs my waist, pulling my body flush against his and kissing me. I allow my lips to move against his until eventually I need to break away for air. "Stay safe, I'll see you soon" he says kissing me deeply again. We keep kissing until eventually he pulls away, "ok I really need to go now." I laugh and shoo him away.

I watch as he disappears around the corner before heading back inside, making sure to shut the door tightly behind me. I stand there, looking around the house wondering what I can actually do today that is productive and doesn't involve sitting on the couch. Eventually I manage to convince myself that the house is actually in serious need of a good cleaning.

I spend over half the day vacuuming, mopping, dusting, doing laundry and changing bedsheets. Basically anything that I can think of to keep me busy for the day. There's about half an hour until Peeta is due home where I hear a sharp knock on the wooden door. I head over and open the door, trying not to scowl when I see who is standing on our doorstep.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"I'm here to see my son" Mrs Mellark sneers "I see he still lets you seam rats live under his roof. Such a shame, waste of space if you ask me."

"Yeah well we never asked for your opinion. Peeta isn't here so go away." I move to shut the door but she sticks out her foot between the doorframe and the door, halting me from closing it.

"You'll do just fine for what I need to say, well, you can at least pass on a message. Though there's not much hope that you will remember it, what with that tiny brain of yours" she sneers.

"Look, I don't care what you want" I say "just leave and talk to Peeta another time."

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, you filthy rat!" Her voice almost a yell. I move to shut the door again but her foot is still in the way. It happens so fast I don't even realise what has happened at first. Mrs Mellark reaches forwards and grabs the end of my braid, yanking on it until I yelp and am forced out of the house doorframe and half bent over in pain as I feel the roots of my hair pulling out.

"You listen to me. I don't know what Peeta wants with you, but you better let him know that if he doesn't get the money to me by two weeks time, he'll have to keep an extra watchful eye on you. Because you never know..." She says, pulling a knife from her back pocket and holding it against my throat. I feel my heartbeat quicken as I freeze, not daring to move.

"One day, this knife. May. Just. Slip."


	31. Chapter 31

I feel the blade of the knife dig into the skin of my neck, causing me to yelp and reach up, clawing at her arm to try and pull it away from my throat. "I don't care about what you want" I gasp "whatever this money is, Peeta isn't giving you a dime, my life be damned."

"I'll have you know that this is extremely personal and confidential business, don't you go blurting your mouth about this money" she sneers.

"I don't know what money your talking about."

"Obviously Peeta doesn't trust you enough to tell you about it yet" her voice is low, menacing.

"Peeta cares for me more than he ever cared for you" I say, gasping against the pressure of the knife as I feel her dig it into my skin.

"Katniss!" Peeta's voice is full of agony and fear. I turn my head as best as I can and see him standing there, his face full of anger and worry.

"Let her go" his voice is weak almost.

"Peeta dear, Katniss was just finished telling me about how she would rather die than you pay the money. May as well just save us some time and get it over with now." I feel my knees buckle as she presses the knife harder against my skin, not enough to draw blood but close enough.

"Let her go!" Peeta roars, his face contorting with fury, he moves forward towards us and Mrs Mellark drops the knife, stepping back obviously in shock at his outbreak. As soon as the knife is away from me I lunge froward and fling my arms around Peeta. His arms wrap around me tightly, pulling me against him tightly and burying his face in my neck.

"Stupid seam rat" I hear Mrs Mellark say roughly. Peeta tries to pull away from me to go after her as she walks away but I hold him tighter against me, not wanting him to cause any more trouble.

"Hey i'm alright" I say, trying to relieve some of his worries. He pulls away from me and kisses me softly, cupping my face in his hands.

"What's the money she's talking about?' I ask him as I pull away and lead him inside. Peeta takes me into the kitchen and lifts me up so I am sitting on the bench. He brushes my hair over my shoulder as he checks my neck for any sign of injury.

"I honestly have no idea, she was probably just saying that to scare you or something. Your necks fine, just a small red line, that's all" he says. I nod as he helps me down from the bench.

"Is Prim coming home tonight?" I ask.

"Uh no, she's staying at a friends house while we go out on a date" he smiles widely at me and I can't help the grin that takes over my face, his smile is contagious.

"Where are we going?" i'm suddenly excited to be able to go out with Peeta for the night.

"So you remember when we were going to go on our first date to the movies, but I couldn't make it and you gave me a fake phone number?" he smirks. I nod and bury my face in my hands, embarrassed at how I had acted over that whole situation. "Well we are going to revisit that date, hopefully do it better this time."

"I've never been to the movies" I say quietly.

"I know, but we are going to change that." Peeta leans down and kisses me softly before telling me to go and get ready, he'll be waiting for me downstairs.

The cinema is surprisingly busy, Peeta buys the tickets and the drinks and popcorn, while I wait in the line thats queuing outside the entry to the cinema room. When he finally gets back he hands me my drink and offers the popcorn box to me, silently asking if I want any. I look at the box, it does smell extremely good, like warm, melted butter.

"You'll love it I promise" he assures me and I reach out and scoop up a handful, eating a few pieces. I almost moan at how good the buttery snack tastes. "I told you it was good" Peeta smirks.

We make our way into the cinema and Peeta and I get two seats in the middle somewhere. He takes my hand in his as the movie starts and I am suddenly awed at the sound and picture that is happening in front of me. I glance at Peeta and see that his eyes aren't trained on the screen, but on me, he his smiling triumphantly as though he is the happiest man alive.

I grin and look back to the screen so as to not miss any of the movie. Peeta had explained me me before we came in what the movie was about. It's some action movie, nothing too romantic and dramatic and nothing scary, he told me its actually supposed to be quite funny. The movie goes for just over an hour and once it has finished I stay seated in my seat. Everyone else starts to stand up and leave but I stay here. I know Peeta is watching me and I turn to look at him.

"Did you enjoy it?" he asks and I nod, a smile blooming across my face as I lean over and kiss him.

"Thank you" I tell him as I stand up and offer him my hand. Together we walk out of the cinema complex, our hands joined between us. "Are we going home now?" I ask as I start to notice he is leading me a different way.

"No" he shakes his head, "there's another surprise."

The other surprise turns out to be an ice-cream parlour. "Peeta your so cliche" I tell him with a laugh as he holds the door open for me.

"I'm just treating you with what you deserve" he smiles as we walk up to the glass fridge with all the ice-cream flavours in it. "What one do you want? You can have more than one flavour if you like." I spent a little more time looking at the flavours before deciding.

"Can I get cookies 'n cream and Melon ?" I ask and he nods, telling the person behind the counter my order and then adding a toffee flavour and triple choc flavour for himself.

The lady hands me my ice-cream and I am surprised to see that the two flavours are in the same cone, piled on top of one another. That's probably normal for anyone else but the only time I ever got ice-cream was when I was little and my parents could only afford a small scoop.

Peeta and I don't sit as we eat our ice-creams, instead we walk through the park, despite it being dark there are street lamps out which flood the park with some dusky light. "Thank you Peeta, for tonight and everything else you've ever done for me."

He looks to me and takes my hand, the one that isn't holding the ice-cream. "You don't have to thank me" he murmurs and I squeeze his hand.

"But I want to, I need to."

"No you don't, just being here with me is more than enough" he confesses. I lean up and kiss his cheek softly. "Hey you had ice-cream on your lips!" Peeta says and I laugh as he wipes it off his cheek. I reach out and smash my ice-cream into his nose and he yelps out as I kneel over in hysterical fits of laughter. Peeta glares at me and I snort as I try to hold in my giggles. He reaches out to smear his ice-cream in my face and I squeal as I run away from him, trying my best to hold onto my own cone.

I stumble a few times but only stop running when I am completely out of breath. I turn around and see Peeta walking towards me slowly, an evil grin on his face. "Stay away from me!" I warn, trying to keep a straight face. I back away slowly as I try and put more distance between us.

"No Katniss, I think this ice-cream would look good smeared across your face" he smirks as he lunges forward, ice-cream outstretched in his hand towards me. I squeal as I jump back, turn and run yet again. Though this time i'm not quite fast enough.

I feel Peeta's arms wrap around my waist as he lifts me up into the air. "Peeta put me down!" I demand and instantly know it was the wrong thing to say as he lays me down on the ground and crawls on top of me, effectively stopping me from running away. I squirm under him as he slowly starts to brings his ice-cream down to my face.

"No! Please no! Peeta stop!" I laugh as he reaches with his free hand and starts to tickle my side.

"You can't just smash your ice-cream into my face, and not expect revenge" he smirks.

I scream when the icy cold hits my face. The ice-cream smudges as Peeta smears it across my cheeks and nose. "Ew Peeta gross, stop it!" I squeal but he doesn't let up until he's satisfied i've had my payback. I wipe as much of the ice-cream off my face as I can and then clean my hands on the grass.

I sit up next to Peeta, still laughing at what just happened. Peeta wraps his arm around me as I lay my head down on his shoulder. We sit in silence for while, just enjoying the peaceful quiet night, there are a few birds flying from tree to tree. I let my mind wander, realising that I have never felt more alive or loved in my life. As though Peeta could read my thoughts, he suddenly confesses to exactly what I had just been thinking.

"I love you Katniss" Peeta murmurs. I freeze and take in a deep breath. I know he does , but i'm still not over the fact he actually does. "I know you may not feel the same way, but I just had to tell you."

My mind starts to muddle as I try to think of something to say back. I care about him, a lot. In fact it scares me how much I care about him. I've never been good at speaking my feelings aloud.

"I really care about you Peeta" I say softly.

"I know, and don't feel bad because you didn't tell me you love me back, I just wanted to let you know about my feelings."

He's right, Peeta knows I care for him more than I would have ever thought I would care for a man.

And that's all that matters right now.


	32. Chapter 32

**Peeta**

Work is slow today. It's Friday so the kids are all restless in class. None of them want to do any work, not even the simple stuff. By the time the final bell rings I am eager to get home and just relax. Unfortunately Katniss is working today too, though she isn't working until closing, just until 5pm.

The kids all rush out of the classroom, just wanting to get on with the weekend. Although one glance up at the sky and any person could tell that there's going to be a storm tonight. The dark grey clouds are rolling in, threatening to grumble and flash lighting across the sky.

I walk out of the classroom and glance up at the sky as a few drops of rain splatter on my face. I pull my hood up over my head as I make my way across the campus to the staffroom and offices. I end up jogging through the light misty rain, a sign that the clouds are trying to rain but it's not quiet ready to pelt yet. Although all the kids have finished school, I still have to stay here until four. I decide to start marking the quiz which I set the class yesterday.

Forty minutes into my marking and I realise that majority of the kids have actually been paying attention in class. English isn't a subject you would usually quiz for, but my students seem to enjoy these little quizzes I throw together sometimes. I feel my phone vibrate against the table and I quickly finish marking the paper that i'm working on and then sit back in my chair, picking up my phone.

The grin is instant when I see Katniss' name on the screen with a text from her. Since I gave her the phone she has certainly gotten better at using it. I always laugh at the memory of how excited she got when she realised she could talk to me at almost any time of the day.

K~ Hey, works so slow now that the storm has nearly hit. You busy?

P~ Yeah it's slow here now that schools finished, I'm about to head home soon. And for you? Never.

I start to shuffle the papers together and stack them into my bag while I wait for her to reply. I have just cleaned up my desk when my text tone chimes.

k~ Your sweet, and lucky! I don't get to leave here for another hour and a bit.

P~ I try! I'll make sure I have dinner on the table then.

K~ Thank you! I'm starved, and I miss you. I wanna see you!"

P~ You will soon. Once you get home, do you think Haymitch will let you out early?

K~ No I already asked, I just wanted to beat out the storm. It's gonna hit town pretty hard. It's already nearly dark out and it's only four!

P~ Yeah I know, do you want me to come and pick you up, we can walk together?

K~ No i'm fine, go home and get dinner on, I only have an hour left I guess.

P~ Ok, I gotta go, love you gorgeous

K ~ Ok bye *kiss*

I laugh at the last text, Katniss still hasn't told me she loves me, though I know she cares about me a lot and that's really at that matters at the moment. I know she struggles with her words and at least I know she really cares about me, which she has told me on several occasions.

It has already started raining when I get home, it has pretty much set in for the night. It shatters against the kitchen windows as Prim and I make dinner. She's chopping the veggies while I cut and crumb the chicken. Once dinner is on the table, it is nearly five so we decide to just eat and then Katniss can reheat her dinner, since it will take her twenty or so minutes to walk home.

Prim and I eat in almost silence, occasionally mentioning something that happened today. Once I have finished dinner and cleaned up the dishes, Prim is in the shower, I glance at the clock. 5:30, Katniss should be home any minute now. I go into the kitchen and put her food in the microwave so it's ready when she gets here.

I glance out the window, the glass looks disjointed from all the raindrops which are splattered across it. The storm is almost completely set in. Every minute or so, a loud rumble of thunder shakes the house, followed by a flash of lightning across the sky. I peer out the window down the street, looking for any signs of Katniss on her way home.

I start to worry when the clock hits five-forty and she still isn't home. The storm is just starting to rage and I worry knowing that she is out there. Prim comes down from the shower looking around curiously.

"Is Katniss not home yet?" She asks. I shake my head solemnly as I continue to stare out the window. I pick up my phone and call her but it goes straight to voicemail. I call her again and again but there's still no answer. I send her a frantic text, so maybe if she sees it she will know.

 _Katniss are you ok? Please come home i'm worried about you, I love you ok. Are you alright? Where are you? I love you so much._

The clock hits six and there is still no sign of her. I sit down at the kitchen table, my mind wandering to dangerous thoughts that make me assume the worst has happened. My thoughts Ponder but by 6:30 i'm officially thinking the worst and scared. I call Ellen the phone rings a few times before she answers.

"Hey Peeta" she sounds happy. Much too happy for a situation like this, I remind myself that she doesn't know yet.

"Ellen, is...is Katniss there? At your house?"

"What? No, why isn't she with you?" Her voice has lost the cheery tone she answered in.

"She's missing Ellen! Dammit! There's are storm outside and she hasn't come home yet!" The words are hard for me to choke out.

"Ok Peeta calm down, okay. I'm sure she's fine. Have you tried calling or texting her?" She uses a soothing voice to try and calm me down but nothing is going to work.

"Ellen listen to me, she's not ok, I can feel it. Yes I've called her, it's just gone to voicemail." I can hear Finnick in the background, asking Ellen what's wrong.

"Peeta we're coming over" Finnick says, having obviously taken the phone from Annie.

"No Finnick it's a nightmare outside" I say weakly.

"I don't care, we have a car and we're coming over." He hangs up after that and I stare at my phone blankly.

I sob loudly, hastily wiping the tears from my face but they are just replaced by new ones.

"Katniss" I wail as I couch down and sob into my hands. I feel a frail hand on my back, rubbing comforting circles. At first I feel my heart skip a beat, my instincts thinking it's Katniss, only to realise it's Prim.

"She'll come home" Prim says, but her voice wavers and tears cloud her eyes.

We sit there together, huddled on the couch waiting. As soon as the time hits seven though I lose any sense of restraint I had. "I'm going to find her" I say standing up and using my sleeve to wipe away the tears as best I can.

"No Peeta! Don't leave" Prim cries jumping up and latching herself onto me.

"Prim she's two hours late, I have to go find her" I sob, trying to pry off her arms.

"No Peeta I don't want to be alone, i'm scared" she whimpers "call the police, please don't go out into the storm."

There is a knock at the door. My heart stops and then I am sprinting to the door. I fling it open but my smile dies when I see it's only Finnick and Ellen. I let them onto the house and then continue to cry into my hands as I slump down onto the couch.

"Peeta call the emergency please" Prim cries as she clings onto Ellen, Ellen is running her fingers through her hair, trying to sooth her. I pick up my phone and dial the emergency number, it rings a few times before I heard the woman's voice, asking which emergency service I need. I tell her police and wait impatiently for the line to carry through. My knee jigs up and down as I wait nervously.

"Hello, please State your emergency?" I hear the mans voice say.

"Um my girlfriend, she was walking home from work in this storm and she hasn't come home yet." I say nervously.

"So are you reporting a missing person?"

"Yes I am."

"How long has your girlfriend been missing?"

"Um just over two hours" I say desperately "she's out in the storm and I'm sorry i'm just freaking out."

"Ok it's alright sir. Do you want to give us your name and address and we'll be over as soon as we can."

I give him my name and address and then hang up the phone. We all sit in silence as we wait for the police to turn up. The silence is almost deafening, making my heart beat erratically and my mind to start churning with sick thoughts of what's happening to her right now.

The police turn up not long after, the knock at the door is solemn almost; as though we knew it brought bad news. They introduce themselves as Boggs and Cressida and then set themselves up in the living room.

"Ok so Peeta when was the last time you spoke to Katniss?" Cressida asks.

"Um" my voice is shaky with fear and tears. "I was texting her at about twenty to four."

"If it's alright would you mind showing us the messages?" Boggs asks. I nod and open them up, handing my phone over for him to inspect.

Boggs and Cressida whisper and talk between each other, referring back to the texts and other things which I wouldn't have a clue about. I sit here nervously. Every time a branch scrapes against the window in the wind, I jump up, excited that I just heard a knock at the door. But I should stop deluding myself, Katniss doesn't need to knock, she lives here.

"Peeta she'll come home" I hear Finnick say as he wraps his arms around me. I realise I am crying again and I can't help the loud sobs from falling from my mouth. My stomach churns, sickened by any thought of harm coming across her.

"Ok Peeta" Cressida starts to speak "We have just contacted the station, they've sent a search party out and i'm sure we'll find some clues or hints. Though I don't want you to get your hopes up, our search team is very effective, if they don't find anything then we have a very serious case on our hands."

I nod silently, begging for some sign to show up. I just want my Katniss home safe. My eyes are red and swollen from crying and suddenly I cannot sit still any longer. I stand up and start pacing the room, my fingers tangling in my hair and pulling at it. This is all my fault. I should have gone to pick her up despite her plea's. I could have done something.

"Why don't we get you to bed Prim?" I hear Ellen say as she helps the poor girl up from the couch, her eyes are also red, as though she has been rubbing her constant tears away.

"I don't want to be alone' Prim says in a small voice.

"We can stay here in the living room with you" I hear her say as she pulls the couch bed out and lays the blankets out. Prim crawls into the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin, maybe to try and block out all the mental demons haunting us both right now.

"Peeta can you lay with me?" she asks, she sounds so defeated I know she just really needs the comfort right now. I sit down on the bed, leaning back against the back of the couch as she reaches out and grabs my hand, clutching it tightly.

The next few hours are torture as we wait. The only sounds are the sobbing and occasional words. When Bogg's phone finally rings we all look at it, expectantly and hopeful. Hearing only Boggs side of the conversation isn't helpful. He keeps his voice toneless and professional as he talks to the search team. He hangs up and I stare at him, trying to decipher what his face reads.

"I'm sorry Peeta. They haven't found anything," and just like that, my whole worlds shatters. I fling up from the bed and sprint into the bathroom, leaning over the toilet as I violently vomit my dinner up. I feel dizzy, as that just makes my stomach churn even more as my heart stops. I stand up and rinse out my mouth, trying to compose myself as I look in the mirror, my eyes are red and puffy, my hair is a mess from me constantly running my fingers through it. My face looks pasty pale and thin. Despair courses through me as I look out the bathroom window at the lightning that forks across the dark sky.

 _Oh Katniss, where have you gone_? The police couldn't even find a single clue as to what had happened, and that was after _hours_ of searching. I trudge down the stairs, sickened by grief still as my heart feels like it's shattering and then just going to give up.

Prim is alseep when I get back down, Ellen is soothingly running her fingers through Prim's hair. "You'll be a good mother" I tell her, though there's little emotion behind my voice. "Peeta, Katniss will come home, she's a fighter that one, she's been through so much; she can get through this." That is exactly what sets me off, my inner walls breaking down as I finally accept what has happened.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT ELLEN!" I yell. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS, OR WHAT HAPPENED!"

"Ok Peeta, just calm down" Finnick says, raising his hands up.

"I can't calm down Finnick! God I feel so sick just thinking about it" I hug my body to maybe try and relieve the pain, I close my eyes to try an imagine the arms are Katniss' as she wraps them around my waist. If I concentrate hard enough, it's almost as though I can smell her and feel her here.

I feel my heat break when I look at the time and see it is nearly midnight and she still isn't home. That's when I know something really bad has happened to her. She was supposed to be home seven hours ago.

"Ok Peeta i'm really sorry but we have to leave" Boggs says, "our search team will continue throughout the night and we will be in contact with you as soon as any information comes about. No matter what the time."

I nod sadly, having to finally accept that she isn't coming home. I go upstairs and grab Katniss' pillow and then go and lay down next to Prim. Ellen and Finnick look at me sadly as I clutch the pillow to my face, breathing in her sweet scent.

"Peeta do you mind if we stay here tonight?" Finnick asks, I shake my head slowly in the pillow, not looking up from my cloud of darkness. I am just about to start crying yet again when my phone beeps. I sit upright, begging and praying for Katniss' name to appear on the screen.

I pick up my phone and stare at the screen, the text is from Katniss. I feel my heartbeat pick up rapidly as I slowly open up the text. A shriek escapes me, followed my a choked sob as I read what she has written.

Wondering why she would write this, maybe she only had a certain amount of time, and she found this was the most important thing to say. I break down, crying desperatly at her words, ones that signify an ending, ones that signify goodbye.

I _love you too, I love you so much Peeta._


	33. Chapter 33

As soon as the morning hits, I borrow Ellen and Finnick's car and speed down to the police station. I should probably get a car some time soon, they are just so expensive. I'm functioning today on no sleep. Poor Prim had nightmares about her sister all night and I just laid down with my nose buried in Katniss pillow, crying for the love I've lost.

With my phone in my hand I walk briskly up to the police station and request to see Boggs or Cressida. Surprisingly they are both here and on duty, willing to see me.

"Peeta, what can we do for you?" Boggs asks.

"Um, I got another text from Katniss last night, I was going to bring it in when I got it, but it was late" I explain shakily as I hand my phone over to him. "I thought maybe you could track down where the text was sent from" I say hopefully.

"That certainly would work, we have the equipment necessary to do that" Boggs says examining the text. I feel my heart beat quicken, it is a possible path directly to Katniss. I can't stop the smile form spreading, hope sinks through my body at the thought of being able to hold Katniss in my arms again.

"We can do it now Peeta if you like, but it will take awhile" Cressida says.

I nod and make my way to the sitting room, waiting for them to run some tests, I feel sickened still that something may have happened to her, and suddenly all the positive thoughts have fled from my mind. Replacing them are the worst possible thoughts I could have of what's happening to her right now.

Is she being beaten? Hurt? Emotionally or physically? Is she even alive. Did she get lost in the storm and fall into a lake?Thoughts of Katniss dying run through my mind in the worst possible way. I choke as I try to hold back my tears. I go over and ask to borrow the desk phone, since mine is with Boggs and Cressida. I call the school, telling them I won't be able to come in for the meeting today, nor will I probably be able to teach at the start of next week at least.

The front desk lady, Effie Trinket, must be able to hear the pain in my voice because she soon stops babbling and her voice takes on a serious tone.

"Peeta dear are you ok?"

"Um..no Effie i'm not ok, my girlfriend went missing in the storm last night. I'm sorry i'm just not going to be able to come in" my voice sounds downright disheartened.

"Oh Peeta" she sighs sadly "I am so sorry, if there's anything I can do to help, don't be afraid to call."

"Yes I will Effie thank you. I need to go now" I say when I spot Boggs walking back out with my phone in his hand.

"Ok Peeta, keep us updated on news about Katniss ok?" I tell her that I will and then hang up, turning to Boggs as I follow him down the hall and back to his office.

"Hey I though you said it would take awhile to track?" I say curiously as I take a seat.

"Yes, well there's been abit of a complication Peeta" he says sadly.

"A complication? What? What do you mean?"

"It will be impossible to track Katniss down. Her phone has been destroyed, almost straight after the text was sent. Our equipment is only picking up broken signals. Whether it has fallen in water or been smashed...I don't know. I'm sorry." He says, his voice leaking with sadness at having to break such bad news, he's a police officer, he should be used to it.

"I um...I have to go" I say pushing back in the chair and standing up, rushing out of the room as I suddenly start to feel suffocated. I burst through the doors, just wanting to breath in fresh air and hold Katniss, kiss her and hug her, never let her go. I run all the way to the woods, I don't know where i'm going exactly, I just want to get away. I want to find her. The search team is still on the lookout. Boggs assured me last night that they wouldn't stop until they were sure nothing could be found. So far they have found nothing. Not even a fingerprint.

I weep, I cry for Katniss and for Prim and for me. I just let all my emotions go as I curl up at the base of a tree. I feel like my heart is continually shattering into a million pieces. When I finally compose myself enough to stand back up, I head back to the house, my legs are shaky and i'm having trouble walking, i'm that downhearted right now.

Prim is sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the television when I walk through the door, I can tell that she isn't really watching it. She's just put it on so the house isn't deadly silent,it haunting almost. Ellen and Finnick are sitting at the table, talking quietly between them. They both stare at me as I walk through the door, completely disheveled and broken.

I drag my feet into the kitchen and take out a cheese bun from the fridge. They were Katniss' favourite. _Were_. I'm already talking like she's gone forever. Have a little hope. A small voice in my head begs, though it doesn't overpower the voice which tells me constantly, that I may never see my precious girl again.

I put the bun on a plate and open the microwave. The plate falls from my hands as I freeze, the china smashes against the floor and shatters into a million tiny pieces, the cheese bun laying forgotten on the floor. Because there, sitting in the microwave is last nights dinner. Katniss' last nights dinner. The plate I had left for her to warm when she got home, except she never did come home.

"Oh Peeta" I hear Ellen sigh behind me as she sees what has made my stomach churn once again.

"I just can't believe she's gone. She just disappeared without a trace? Ellen how does that even happen. The police are having trouble finding even a single DNA strand."

"Peeta she will turn up, I promise you that, Katniss is a strong girl. Why don't you go get some rest while I clean this up?" She says leading me to my room. I sit on the edge of the bed as she runs her fingers through my hair once, then leaving me alone, closing the door behind her.

For a moment I sit here, wallowing in my own grief and guilt. I could have saved her. I could have just ignored her text and gone and picked her up from work, then none of this would have happened. I blame myself for what is happening to Katniss right now, if she is even alive.

In need of something to distract myself from terrifying thoughts of Katniss dying, I get down on my knees on the floor and reach under the bed, pulling out my box of sketch books and paints and pencils. I sit back against the headboard and start my drawing. I draw Katniss. Over and over again until I am sure I have perfected her, though the drawing can never do her true beauty justice, it's something for me to remember her by until she comes home. She will come home. I also have the picture of us on my phone, Prim had sneakily taken it of us when we went on a date to a restaurant one time last week. She has her arms wrapped around my waist and my arm is around her shoulder. Katniss' head is buried against my chest as I look down at her, a look of pure adoration etched on my face.

I end up sketching that picture too. By the time the day is nearly at an end, I have a good five, perfect drawings of Katniss. This suddenly becomes my best coping mechanism to the situation around me at the moment, I stay up until late at night, ignoring Ellen's calls for dinner. I draw, and draw and draw. At around 1am, a tired Finnick comes into my room.

"I hope you don't mind" he begins, sitting on the edge of my bed "Ellen and I are going to stay here for awhile, to make sure your alright."

I nod slowly, not looking him in the eye as I focus on my current drawing. It is one of Katniss as I saw her a few days ago on our date to the movies. It was when I was chasing her and she turns her head to look back at me. It was like I saw it in slow motion as her hair flew around her face, framing her perfect features.

"That's a seriously good drawing Peeta" he says, I thank him quietly as I continue to move my pencil across the paper, drawing in the long strands of her dark wavy hair. "Are you gonna get to sleep now?" He asks.

I shake my head, my throat going dry. I am unexplainably tired right now, but I know that sleep is just not going to happen.

"Peeta you need to sleep, you haven't slept in over 24 hours and a lot of tiring stuff has happened. It's been mentally draining."

"I can't sleep" I say, my voice thick with unshed tears, "i'm afraid of the nightmares."

"Peeta I promise you that the nightmares will only get worse if you don't sleep, you'll start losing any sense of reality. Please Peeta, even if it's just for a few hours.

"I'll try" I whisper, not wanting to argue with him right now over this.

Finnick leaves the room quietly, shutting the door behind him. I close my sketch book and place it on the bedside table, and turn of the lamp. The warm, comforting glow that the lamp gave off diminishes, leaving the room in a cold darkness. I toss and turn, hugging tightly onto the other pillow, as though I was hugging Katniss, though it's not these me, I just need some comfort, and so does Katniss wherever she is, god she must be so scared. I miss her so much.

I slide out of bed and trudge down to Katniss' bedroom. Some small part of me is hoping that this has just been some horrid dream, and that when I open the door, she will be curled up in the covers, completely safe and free of harm.

But when I slowly creak the door open, the room is dark, I flip on the switch and see that her bed is completely made, nothing out of place. As though her room doesn't notice its owner has been gone for over a day. I turn the light back off and crawl into her bed. Completely burying myself in the covers, inhaling her scent. The smell is so wonderfully overpowering, it's almost like she's here with me.

I don't sleep the whole night. I just close my eyes and remember all the good things that have happened between us. She said she loved me. Even though it was almost like final words, words of goodbye. She loves me. I know that this is the girl I want to grow old with. I want to marry her and for her to have our children, I want to wake up with her in my arms everyday and be able to kiss her whenever I want.

 _I just need you to come home Katniss, please wherever you are, come home, stay safe. Please_.

The next morning I don't get out of Katniss' bed. I fully intend to stay here, wrapped up in Katniss' warmth and scent. I pull the covers up over my head and curl up, hugging my body to keep me calm. I hear the door open and then followed by a sigh. "This is so sad" I hear Ellen say "he's sleeping in her bed."

"That's understandable " Finnick whispers back "he loves her and now she's just gone, he doesn't even know where she is or what has happened to her."

"Guys you know i'm awake" I mumble, lifting my head slightly and looking at them through my dull eyes.

"Oh Peeta i'm so sorry! Did we wake you?" Ellen fusses. I shake my head. "Did you not sleep at all?" She asks coming over and sitting down on the edge of the bed, her fingers brushing the hair off my face. I shake my head again, letting her know that I didn't sleep an ounce last night.

Ellen sobs as she leans down to hug me. Finnick is leaning against the doorframe, watching the scene play out before him sadly. Katniss' disappearance has certainly had an effect on all of us.

"I can't do it " I whisper weakly. "How am I supposed to find her if I can't even get out of her bed?"

"Oh Peeta, you don't have to find Katniss, the police are doing everything they can to find her."

"I want to help, she's my girlfriend" I croak out, tears littering my cheeks. "I need to go help find her, i'm not giving up" I say crawling out of bed and pulling on some clothes and shoes.

"Peeta right now your functioning on no sleep for about 38 hours, your not thinking straight." Finnick tries to reason with me. But I ignore him as I hurry down the stairs, looking at the picture of me and Katniss quickly and kissing her face before putting it in my pocket and hurrying out the door.

"I'll be back later" I call out, knowing that Ellen and Finnick won't try and stop me. I think they realise I need to see for myself that there is no trace of Katniss. But I don't care what they think. I need to at least attempt to find her. Because I love her, and I refuse to live my life without her.


	34. Chapter 34

I run down the Main Street towards Haymitch's, I need to ask him about the night Katniss disappeared. I burst through the door, there is a girl behind the bar with dark hair and eyes. I recognise her as Clove, Katniss had mentioned her once or twice to me. "Hi, is Haymitch here?" I ask as I try to catch my breath from running.

"He's out the back, I can go get him for you?" She says as she puts the dishcloth down on the counter. I nod my thanks and then lean against one of the tables, the bar is dark almost, though there are tables. I honestly don't know why he opens in the late morning, however I suppose there are always desperate people floundering around.

"Haymitch Abernathy." I turn to see a man with shaggy, rusty blond hair holding his hand out towards me. His face is slightly sunken . I reach out and take his hand, shaking it firmly.

"Peeta Mellark" I say nervously. He nods as realisation of who I am comes over him. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"You want to know about your girlfriend." It isn't a question, he has my intentions spot on.

"Um yes, I just want to know if you know anything from that night?" I wring my hands together, desperatly needing something to distract me from my thoughts.

"Look, Peeta, I really wish I could help you. But honestly I haven't heard anything other than what's been on the news. She left here when her shift ended and that's the last I saw of her."

I feel my throat constrict "there's...she's been on the news?" I choke out. Obviously I haven't been paying much attention to what's happening around me. Haymitch nods, his face impassive and solemn.

"It's been everywhere. Officer Boggs couldn't get a clear picture of her though, they wanted one for the television and posters to put up around the town. I'm surprised they haven't called and asked you for one yet."

"Haymitch i'm sorry, I have to go find her" I say hurriedly as I turn and rush out the door, the natural daylight is almost blinding compared to the dull lights of the bar. I track the route Katniss takes from the bar to home several times. Eventually I realise that the police were correct, there isn't a single clue that can be found.

I step of the track and wander around the town, trying desperately to track something. It's not long until I find myself in the seam, somewhere I haven't been since my constant visits to the orphanage. That horrid place where I had the unfortunate pleasure to walk the corridors. It made me sick, thinking of how Katniss and Prim had had to live. The way they treat the children there is appalling and gut wrenching.

Oh, hasn't Katniss had enough to deal with in her life, she doesn't need this. Please, let you be safe I pray, glancing up towards the sky. Please come home, I love you.

I am just about to head deeper into the inner Seam when I see it. The flash of dark hair, pulled back in a braid is deceiving at first. It makes my heart skip a beat and then stop entirely. Oh my...I feel my breath quicken and then just like that, the girl with the braid has dashed around behind a building.

I don't notice my feet are moving towards there until my brain registers what I just saw. I feel my senses heighten and suddenly I am jogging and then running, running towards who I am desperately clinging to the hope, is the love of my life. I round the corner and stop abruptly when I find the alleyway empty. No. No I can not give up, not now.

My eyes roam the narrow cobblestone alley, it's a dead end, the wall rising up as high as the buildings, stoping the mini road from continuing. I look over the doors and windows in the brick walls of the houses. They all have flat fronts, forming a wall like structure surrounding the alley. The windows are all caked with dust and mud, the glass isn't clear, it's foggy and matted. I see a pair of grey eyes peering out of a window at me. When she catches me staring, she turns quickly and disappears into the house, her braid trailing behind her. Was that her, I didn't get a close enough look.

I walk up to the house and knock on the door. Nobody answers. I knock again and again, eventually the door opens a crack. The grey eyes peek out through the crack and almost immediately I know they do not belong to the woman I love.

"What do you want?" Her voice is shaky, as though she noticed me following her.

"I'm...i'm sorry, I though you were someone else" I say as I feel my heart sink down into my stomach and then get crushed up as my stomach churns and wrenches dangerously. I turn and almost run to the woods lining the seam borders.

I fall down to my knees in the dirt. A cry of despair wails from me as I shove my fist in my mouth, trying to stop my jaw from quivering as I shake with sobs. You shouldn't be crying, don't give up on her yet. No I could never give up looking for her, I would never forgive myself.

I shiver and hug my body for warmth. It's not that the weather is terribly cold, it's actually quite a sunny day. Though with the grave thoughts and feelings that haunt me, it may as well be the dead of winter.

I stumble to my feet and trudge home. I had convinced myself that I had finally found her, but no. Life doesn't always work that easily. I was a fool to get my hopes up that high, it just makes the heartbreak so much worse. Just as I am passing the police station I hear my name being called out. I turn and see Boggs running towards me, I take a quick few strides and then follow him up back to his office.

"Have you found anything?" I ask before we have even sat down.

"I'm sorry no we haven't. I just wanted to know if you have some photos of Katniss, we, with your permission of course, would like to put out flyers." I nod my head sadly.

"Yeah, I have photos" I open up my phone and show him all the ones of Katniss. Aside from the ones I took while she was sleeping, it's hard to resist looking at her when she is asleep, she always looks as though she hasn't a care in the world. As though her life hasn't been hell.

Boggs points out the two that he would like, one of Katniss which I took secretly. She is sitting at the kitchen bench at home, her head resting on her hand as she laughs as something I had just said. Her eyes are alight and her smile is bright, her hair is down in this photo as is cascades over her shoulders, framing her face. The second photo is the one of her and me, the one that Prim took on our date to the restaurant, where Katniss arms are around me.

Boggs says it shows that people who love her are waiting for her to come home, that it shows she has a life and family and also so that people know when they see the picture, that they should tell me anything they see suspicious.

I feel hot tears burn behind my eyes just looking at how beautiful she is. I need her back, I need her in my arms, to be able to kiss her. I email Boggs the photos and he promises that flyers will be up by tomorrow,the search team will put them out tonight.

I nod my thanks and mutter something about going home and painting pictures of Katniss as I walk out of the station and the few blocks home. I don't even acknowledge Finnick, Annie and Prim as I trudge through the door and make my way upstairs. I pull out my sketchbook and begin my drawing of Katniss. However no matter how many drawings I complete, I am never fully satisfied with the outcome, none of them can do her beauty justice. I find myself once again crying, and I desperately wish that all these emotions would just go away, and I would be able to just have Katniss back home safe.

I'm tired of crying. And when I've been crying and sulking for nearly three days without any sleep, I can feel the pressure building in my eyes. But I know I will never be able to sleep. I'm scared of the nightmares that flash over my darkened eyelids. What if I dream a terrible terror about Katniss, only it's not a dream and it's actually happening to her.

The police have searched lakes, and I suppose with no signs of any body's, I should be relieved that Katniss hasn't been addressed with that fate, however i'm not. Because it's still a possibility, and that scares me to death. A knock at the door wakes me from my thoughts and I look up to see Prim standing there, a look of pure hopelessness on her face.

I set my sketchbook aside and hold out my arms, she immediately crawls into them and I let her cry. Eventually she looks up.

"Peeta?" She asks in a small voice. I hum in answer and look down at her "do you think katniss is alive?" Her voice quivers with each word.

"Yes" I whisper "I think the pain in my chest would be completely burning, literally sizzling my heart into a million pieces the minute she left, leaves. I would know, the pain would be unbearable, I would know. "My voice is quiet and fearful. I know that the minute Katniss dies, the pain will rip through me, whether she be with me or not.

I hold Prim as she crys. I notice now that I haven't exactly been fair to her. Thank goodness Finnick and Annie were here to look after her, I haven't exactly been the best role model for Prim.

"I'm so sorry Prim" I murmur, stroking her hair softly.

"It's not your fault" she says sadly. "But you should get some sleep, even if it is just for a few hours. You'll start hallucinating soon if you don't sleep."

I nod, not because I actually am going to sleep, but to give Prim some reason to hope that i'm not going to wallow forever. She kisses my cheek and then walks out the door, I hear her footsteps down the stairs.

The night is rough. I take Prim's word for it and actually try to sleep. But after the first nightmare, I refuse to even try again. I slept for about an hour and a half until the terrifying and bloodcurdling images of Katniss being tortured painted across my mind. I screamed myself awake and Ellen was in my room almost instantly, holding me in her arms and trying to calm me down.

I tossed and turned for the rest of the night. I made Ellen keep the light on, not to keep me awake, but because of was scared. Yes me, Peeta Mellark, is scared of the dark at 21 years old. So maybe i'm not usually scared of the darkness, but right now, I need to be able to see my surroundings, i'm scared that the dark will serve as a backdrop for more horrifying thoughts.

When morning finally comes I don't even wait to eat breakfast as I pull on some clothes and head straight outside. Just as he had promised, there are flyers posted up around the town, on trees and light posts, stuck up on shop windows and walls.

I go up to the nearest tree and look at it carefully. 'Missing Person' is written in bold lettering across the top of the page. Under it is the two pictures I sent Boggs, next to each other. Beneath the pictures is a brief description of Katniss and what happen the night of the storm.

=On Friday night, Katniss Everdeen, 20, disappeared suddenly while on her way home from work. Her boyfriend, Peeta Mellark, 21, insists that he was waiting for her to arrive home, and instantly knew something was wrong when she didn't pick up his calls. There are no signs of anything leading towards the whereabouts of Katniss, however hope is not yet lost. Katniss is around medium height and has dark brown hair, often worn in a braid. Her eyes are grey and her skin is olive. If anyone sights Katniss or anything relating, please contact the police station immediately.=

I feel my heart clench, this just makes everything so real. I snatch the poster down from the tree and fold it into my pocket. I can cut the photos out and put them in my wallet. I am just about to make my way to the bakery, I feel like I owe my dad a visit, considering he's probably worried endlessly after hearing the news of Katniss. My phone comes to life in my pocket as it rings loudly. I pick it up and almost start trembling when I see officer Boggs' number. I answer the call and hold the phone to my ear, barely whispering a weak hello.

"Peeta?" His voice is grave and haunting, "I think you need to get down to the station as fast as you can. We have some news."


	35. Chapter 35

I hope you will like this chapter! There are 6 chapters left after this one. WARNING : It get intense in those next chapters : kidnapping etc.. Read at your own risk. Thanks for the lovely reviews , if I hit 200 reviews I start with another story about Everlark

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The police station is nearly empty when I burst through the doors, my heart racing from running, my breaths heavy. I rush down the corridor towards where I know Boggs' office is. My knock is quick as I am almost shaking with anticipation.

"Come in" Boggs' voice is unreadable through the door. I push the door open and stumble into the room, taking a seat opposite Boggs.

"Is it...is it good news?" I ask quickly.

"I don't know how to say this exactly Peeta. It's not good news, though it certainly leads us closer to where Katniss is." I feel my heart beat in my ears as I wait for him to disclose what's got me so worked up. He pulls a Manila envelope from the drawer in his desk and slides it across the top towards me. "I think you should take a look at this" his voice is dark almost.

I open the folder and slowly pull out the stack of shiny paper photos. I almost choke right there, just looking at the first photo. Hot tears burn in my eyes as I quickly flip through all the photos, I feel my head spin and the world starts to go dizzy. I feel sick, like I might literally throw up, because in my shaking hands are photos of Katniss.

Katniss leaving the house for work.

Katniss and I walking down the street, our hands clasped between us.

Katniss leaving the coffee shop with a latte in her hand.

Katniss in the grocery store. The photo taken through the shelves of one of the aisles.

Katniss in her room, taken from outside through the window.

Katniss and I kissing in the park the night of our movie date.

I feel sick as I flip through the last of the photos. Someone has been stalking Katniss, and for quite awhile now. The last photo makes me shiver and my stomach sinks.

Katniss is staring up at the camera from the ground. Her eyes wide with fear as tears roll down her cheeks. Her mouth is open in a scream and her skin is ghostly pale.

No.

"W-where did you find these?" I say slowly.

"A member of the search team found them in a dumping bin, near the seam. It's quite a shock isn't it?"

I nod my head slowly, not able to focus. It feels like all his words are travelling down a tunnel before they actually meet my ears. "Peeta I need you to know, that we will do everything we can to get Katniss back to you" Boggs says sincerely.

"I know you will, and that means so much to me" I say quietly.

"Whoever has taken her obviously has been planning it for while, they chose the night of the storm because it would have created a great distraction. It worked too, we didn't know what had happened to her until now." Boggs obviously knows what he's talking about as he has looked a bit into these photos before showing me.

"This is good Peeta" Boggs says convincingly "this will help immensely in finding Katniss and rescuing her." I nod and look down at my hands as I twist my fingers together.

"I'll call you if anything else happens" Boggs says. I nod and shake his hand. I'm sure he can tell just how much mine was shaking.

I walk home with my hands in my pockets and my head down. Ellen rushes over to hug me as soon as the door closes behind me.

"Peeta i'm so sorry, Boggs called us and told us what they found."

"It's ok, this just means we're closer to finding her...right?" I say sadly. She nods as tears cloud her eyes and then pulls me to the table, making me sit down as Prim sets a plate of food in front of me.

"Peeta you need to eat. You haven't eaten anything since Friday night" she says. I pick up the piece of toast and take a bite. It tastes dry, like cardboard. I shake my head and put it down.

"I can't eat food when Katniss might not be getting any" I say and they all sigh.

"Peeta you won't be much help to her when she does come home, if you don't keep yourself strong and healthy" Finnick says coming over and sitting down opposite me.

"I think I might go and see my dad" I say remembering what I was going to do before I got the phone call from Boggs. Ellen and Prim sigh in defeat as I stand up and head back to the door I walked through not five minutes ago.

"Peeta you can't avoid everything forever" I hear Finnick call after me as. I slam the door behind me.

The bakery is empty when I get there, save for Rye behind the counter. When he sees me, his usually cheeky banter and playfulness is gone. Instead his face is full of concern and sorrow.

"Peeta" he says moving around the counter to hug me tightly, "I am so sorry about katniss." I nod into his shoulder as I spot dad and Clement walking from out the back, each carrying trays of cakes and biscuits. When they spot me they both dump the trays on the counter and rush over to hug me as well.

When dad realises I am crying he pushes Clement and Rye away and takes my hand, leading me through to the back room.

"Here, have something to eat" he says handing me a cheese bun.

"These were Katniss' favourite" I say quietly. I hear Rye swear behind dad as he walks out and rushes back in with a cinnamon roll.

"Eat this instead" he says handing it to me.

"I don't want to eat" I argue "why is everyone trying to get me to eat and sleep and take care of me?"

"Because, Peeta, you look like hell. Your not doing yourself or Katniss any favours here" dad says.

I rip a chunk of the roll off and eat is slowly. Trying not to think about it when I do. The only reason i'm eating right now is for Katniss. I hear footsteps on the stairs and turn just in time to see my mother walking down.

"Ah, so finally you decide to show up" she sneers as she walks around to face me. "Don't worry about wallowing after her Peeta, that piece of trash is better of out of our lives anyway."

Dad must sense me about to throw myself at her because he reaches forward and restrains me. "Peeta calm down, just ignore her."

I glare at her as she smirks "yes, seam rats like her belong on the streets anyway, no wonder she left you."

"She didn't leave me, and you know that!" I say sharply. Katniss would never leave me, I hope.

"Yes I did hear something about that on the news last night actually. Something about her being kidnapped or whatever. You know I don't really care for cases where police waste their time searching. It's not like the girl is going to actually show up."

I stare at her incredulously. My eyes scanning over her. "Do you know something about this?" I ask, completely perplexed.

Her eyes widen in fury "of course not you stupid person. Are you accusing your own mother of being behind taking her sons girlfriend?"

"Not directly, but you seem to know something" I shoot back.

"Well your wrong" she snaps turning around and heading towards the door. "And for the record" she says turning around "if I did know something, don't you think I would be hiding it a little more?" With that she turns and stamps out of the room.

"Peeta don't listen to her. She hasn't had anything to do with Katniss' disappearance." My dad says. I nod slowly, trying not to think of it anymore.

"I think i'm just gonna go home and keep drawing Katniss" I say sadly as I stand up and head for the door.

"Peeta no" I hear Rye say. "Annie called me and told me that's all you've been doing. Holing yourself up in your room drawing pictures of her, do you really think that's gonna help you get your mindset right?"

I shake my head "no, but it helps me remember her. It helps me think that's she hasn't actually been taken. It numbs the pain."

Rye comes over and hugs me tightly. "We'll find her. She'll come home."

"Everyone keeps saying that" I sob "but as the days go on..."

"No Peeta, don't give up on her" he says.

"I could never give up on her Rye, even if it's been ten years. I would never give up."

"She's the one eh?" He says. I nod my head sadly.

"Yeah, she is."

The next day, I decide after am half an hour of staying indoors, that I need to go out and keep looking for her. I can't give up on her, it's just going to mess with my head if I sit around all day, waiting for her to come home.

It doesn't take me long to find where the search team have set up. It's right on the edge of the seam, they have police tape out surrounding the area they have as their base. There is a tables and chairs, a tent is set up with equipment inside.

"Can I help you?" One of the officers asks.

"Um, My name is Peeta Mellark. I was wondering if I could go out and help search. I just can't stand sitting around all day, hoping and waiting."

The officer thinks about it for awhile before waving me forward. I step under the tape and take a seat next to him.

"You can't actually go out, but I'll allow you to sit here with me. Besides, the teams already left, i'm here to mind the stuff or if people need to report to base. The names Castor by the way."

I nod and we sit in relative silence until eventually he breaks it.

"So Katniss Everdeen's your girlfriend. You two must be pretty serious."

"Um yeah, we are pretty serious I would say."

"How long you two been together?" He asks leaning back in his chair.

"No that long, only just under a month. But it feels right, you know? I love her to bits."

Castor nods in understanding as he takes a drink from his water bottle. He is just about to ask me something else when his radio crackles to life.

"Castor you there? Castor?" The voice is frantic.

"Yeah i'm here" he says leaning forward in his seat.

"We found something, we're bringing it back to the base now. It's not good."

"Ok, be quick" Castor says. There's more crackling and then the voice on the other end speaks again, his words disjointed.

"Yeah...just around...the corner."

We wait in silence. My stomach twists uncomfortably. They found something. And it's not good.

I watch as a group of about five rescue officers comes around the corner. One of then is carrying something in his hand. I stand up nervously as they climb under the tape.

"Who's this?" One of them asks.

"This is Peeta, Katniss' boyfriend" Castor explains.

"He can't see this" the officer frets "it needs to go through Boggs first, and even then, I don't know if Boggs will let him see it. It's too sickening."


	36. Chapter 36

It's been too long.

How can it take this long? It shouldn't take over five hours. Come on. Please, let the door open.

My eyes bore into the metal door, willing it to open and for Boggs to come out, telling me what they found.

Please.

I just need to know what's going on. The search team were frantic upon their return, they had all jumped in the car and taken off, leaving me in the dust. She's my girl, I deserve to know what is happening to Katniss. Everyone had been extremely secretive when I finally arrived at the police station, puffing and completely out of breath.

"Please" I had begged. "Just tell me what you know. Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know, not after this" and then the officer had gone back to the room where they were currently showing Boggs and Cressida the 'news'.

That was five hours ago.

"Mr Mellark, I think you should go home now" the receptionist behind the desk tells me as she brushes her dark hair off her face.

"I'm not leaving. Not until I know what's going on" I say as I stand my place.

I hear a click and my head whips around to see the door opening. My heart starts beating fast. Finally, I think. Boggs freezes when he sees me.

"Peeta what are you still doing here?"

"I'm not leaving until I know what's going on" I repeat, standing up and facing him. "Please Boggs, I need to know."

He turns around and starts to head back to his office. "I'm sorry Peeta. You can't know everything, and this is just something I can't risk you seeing and putting this whole process back." The door is about to close when what he just says really sinks in.

"No!" I yell, lunging forward and stopping the door from closing. "You can't do this!"

"Yes Peeta I can, now please let me shut the door before I call security department" he says sternly.

"Your supposed to be on my side" I call in despair "your supposed to help me!"

"I am helping you Peeta. Trust me you don't want to see this." My stomach twists. I need to know what is going on.

"Please just tell me!" My voice cracks as I scream out. I feel hands grab me from behind, Boggs doesn't need to call the security department, they must have heard my yells. "Let me go!" I jerk their hands off my arms but the guard just grabs me again, rougher.

"Come on Peeta, please cooperate here, we are trying our best to help Katniss" Boggs says as the security guard starts to pull me down the hall.

"No! Please, that's my girl! I need to know what's happening to her, please help."

Boggs shuts the door as the guard throws me outside. Whatever they found, it has changed everything, even Boggs' outlook on this. He promised he would tell me everything, show me everything. What happened?

I go and sit down on the grass under the tree. Dusk is falling quickly as I watch the sun which is halfway set behind the tree line of the woods. I lean against the tree trunk as hot tears well behind my eyes, threatening to spill down my cheeks.

Please Katniss, just come home, to me.

I pull my phone out of my pocket as I gaze longingly at one of the photos of Katniss. My heart aches with desperate need.

It's soon nearly dark out, just a few spare rays of lights peeking through the nighttime clouds. I'm not going home tonight. I said I wasn't leaving until I knew everything and i'm standing by that. I watch as person after person leaves the police station, obviously finished work and going home.

Though the time quickly increases, one light still remains in the station, the light I know belongs to Boggs. I also know he is the one left since he hasn't walked out yet. I stand up and go over to the front doors, I tug on the handle but they don't budge. I rattle the door, trying to see if there is maybe a chance the door is just jammed. No such luck.

I try and peer down the hallway, maybe to catch Boggs' attention, but his door is shut tight. My shoulders slump as I walk slowly back to the tree and slide down to the ground again. I close my eyes, willing for all this to just be over already. I've had enough of these games.

It's light when I next open my eyes. I blink a few times, trying to get my eyes used to the brightness.

"Hey what are you still doing here?" I look up to see Castor stepping out of his car as he makes his way over to me.

"I told you guys i'm not leaving until I know everything."

Castor sighs, "you been here all night?" I nod and stand up. "Come with me" he motions. I follow him up the steps and back into the police station. castor leads me down the hall to Boggs' office.

Boggs is sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. He looks up at the sound of us entering and I hate to admit the looks absolutely exhausted. His clothes look disheveled and there are dark circles under his eyes.

"Look who I found" Castor says as he pushes me down into a chair. "He's been loitering out the front under a tree since last night, says he refuses to leave."

Boggs sighs and runs his hands over his face tiredly. He looks at me, his eyes full of sadness and grief. "Are you sure about this Peeta?"

It takes me a moment to fully recognise what he is trying to say. I nod my head, quickly at first but I stop as soon as I notice the cautionary tone in his voice.

"Peeta nothing will ever prepare you for what you are about to see. I'm extremely sorry."

"Please" my voice breaks, "what do you know?"

"Peeta..." Boggs' eyes downcast before looking back up at me sadly. "We know where Katniss is. We've found her."

It takes a moment for this to sink in, and then it fully registers. No.

"She's...is she...oh my...is she" I feel my stomach heave at what I think he's saying as I start gasping for air.

"No! Oh no Peeta she's not dead. I'm sorry if what I said sounded that way." Boggs reaches up to rub my back as I double over in my chair, trying to clear my airways from the initial shock

"But you said..." I trail off when I have finally regained my composition.

"Yes we have found her" Boggs clarifies. Though his voice isn't happy, I know there's a but.

"So is she safe? Have you rescued her?" I say sitting up in my chair straighter.

Boggs shakes his head sadly. "Peeta i'm sorry but this case is much bigger than we originally thought. At the moment it would be impossible to save Katniss, the situation she's in...its deplorable."

"What? So you know where she is, but your refusing to save her? Where is she?!" I demand as my voice raises.

"Peeta you need to calm down. You don't know everything yet. Where Katniss is, the people who have taken her; It's not going to be easy getting her out. Even if we did, those people will keep coming back for her until they get what they want."

"What's happened to her?" I croak out.

"Are you sure your ready for this?" Boggs asks, and I know he's referring to what they found yesterday. I nod my head as my heart thumps and my mind whirrs. I'd be a fool to deny that I am scared, more so than I have ever been in my life.

Boggs turns his laptop around on the desk so the screen is facing me. At first the screen is black, and then the first flash makes me suck in a gasp of air.

"No!" Katniss screams as someone grabs at her. "Leave me alone!"

My stomach curdles and my heart pounds loudly, thumping as though it's trying to get out of my chest as I watch the video footage of when Katniss was taken. There's quite obviously two people, one of them is attacking Katniss while the other holds the camera, filming and laughing evilly.

"Please let me go!" She screeches as the mans wraps his arms around her neck in a death grip. I don't even notice i'm holding my breath.

"Your too pretty to let go" the man says in her ear as she struggles to get out of his grasp.

"Help! HELP!" Katniss screams out as the man covers her mouth with his hand. I stand here in shock, watching my girl as the man jerks his arm which is around her neck. Katniss' eyes roll into her back and her head lolls to the side.

"No" I whisper, covering my mouth with my hand in shock.

The video changes screens to Katniss. I immediately recognise the scene from the photo Boggs showed me the other day. Of Katniss looking up at the camera from the floor, tears pouring down her face as she screams. At least in the photo I couldn't hear anything.

But now that i'm watching the scene play out before me, her pain filled shrieks strike me painfully in the chest. Like icicles spearing through me.

"Please don't hurt him, leave him out of this" she cries as a hand comes down hard against the side of her face. I hear laughing from behind the camera as she screams. She screams out for me, telling me she loves me and she's sorry she didn't say it sooner.

"Hey Katniss, say hi to the camera. We're going to make sure your boyfriend watches this" one of the men sneers.

"Please don't hurt him" she whimpers as she curls up on the floor. She lets out a scream again and covers her head with her arms as another blow is swung at her.

I can't think straight. It's as though i'm seeing but not actually processing what's going on here. This can't be true. This can't be happening. My breathing turns heavy and as the video progresses, the more graphic things become. Watching Katniss as she is tied up in a dark, damp, concrete room. Watching her body deteriorate as she doesn't get food and a measly amount of dirty water each day. I watch as her face sinks in and her body turns frail. Suddenly I can't hold it in any longer.

I make it just in time as I vomit violently into the pot plant in the corner of the room. My mind spins dangerously and my stomach churns and twists.

"You say you can't get her out" I say weakly as I stand up and slowly take a seat again; accepting the bottle of water Boggs hands me. He nods. "Why? Why can't you get her out of there?"

"The people who have taken her. Well, we have some background information on them. It's a dangerous task and it needs to be planned. We will get her out, but we can't just rush into this without a plan set in place" he explains. I nod slowly, trying to process all this new information.

"The men however have put security cameras in Katniss' cell room. Our tech staff have managed to infiltrate their system. So we can keep awatch of Katniss and how she is doing" Boggs tells me.

"So you know exactly what is happening to her and when?" I try to keep my voice steady.

"Yes, we are keeping an extremely close monitor on her."

"Can you...can you tell me more about the guys? My voice sounds weak and broken.

Boggs shakes his head, "i'm sorry Peeta, for confidentiality reasons along with others, I cannot disclose any information on their profiles and past crimes. Not until we get further along with our rescue mission which is about to be put into place."

I nod my head. As much as I want to know about the guys, i'm not a police officer. Boggs has already shown and told me a mass of things, which the eyes of any normal person wouldn't usually see.

The door slams open, making me jump up in my chair with a fright.

"Boggs?" The man says quickly, as though what he needs to say cannot wait any longer.

"Plutarch" Boggs says, sitting up in his chair straighter. "What is it? What have you heard?"

"It's the Everdeen case" he says out of breath "another girl was taken last night. She's only 14 years old. We need to respond immediately to the conference room. The kidnappers were out on the streets. But that's not what worries me the most."

"What is it?" Boggs says alarmed. I feel my head spin with the news, another girl was taken?

"It's Katniss, I was watching the surveillance cameras in her cell. We need to rescue her immediately. She's almost gone, she was fine until a gun shot rang outside her cell. She just dropped to the floor completely unconscious from shock and i'm afraid her body will be too weak to regain consciousness without our help."

"But Plutarch...the plan" Boggs protests.

"You didn't see how weak she was! We need to go now or we'll lose the case and she'll die."


	37. Chapter 37

**_One more chapter to go !_**

 ** _Guys thank you for everything !_**

 ** _Now you all going to be mad at me... I am leaving tonight for summer camp in Italy , Milan !_**

 ** _That means.. the last chapter going to be here at august 15, Jennifers birthday !_**

The police station is a mess. There are people everywhere, running around and yelling out orders. I stand in a far corner, trying my best to stay out of everyone's way as the alarms ring out through the speakers and the rescue team prepares for departure.

I had tried to insist to Boggs that I was fit enough to go along and help rescue Katniss and the other little girl who was taken. Though he had been stern when telling that though he believes I am fit enough, I simply am unable to go due to the fact that i'm a school teacher and not a police officer.

While I was disappointed to learn that I would have to sit around for hours on end waiting for them to return, I fully understand. I've decided it's no good moping around, I know Katniss is in good hands once the rescue team reaches her. Even though they went in without a plan, it was impossible for them to wait any longer; not with Katniss' quickly deteriorating state.

Boggs told me he would call me as soon as they have news and let me know where to meet them. I call Ellen, Finnick and Prim, letting them know if the news. Prim wanted to come done to the station so that we could wait together and Ellen had offered to drive her. She should be here any minute.

I sit in the waiting room, the air conditioning blowing insistently on the back of my neck, making the hairs on my arms stand up. The door flings open and Prim comes running over to me. I stand up and catch her in a hug.

"They're going to save her Prim" I sigh happily. She squeezes her arms around me tighter. I see Ellen standing at the doorway, smiling sadly at the both of us.

"Peeta i'm going to leave my car here ok, just in case you need to get to the hospital later when they find her" she says.

"Thank you Ellen, really" I say walking up to her and hugging her.

"Anytime Peeta, make sure you call me and let us know when you have news."

"I will, I promise. Thank you" I say as Prim hugs Ellen goodbye.

Prim and I sit on the hard chairs while we wait for Boggs' call. Prim holds onto my hand tightly as we both stare at my phone which rests on the mini table in front of us.

More hours pass by until eventually it's been 6 hours since the rescue team left. The receptionist at the front desk was kind enough to bring out some water and sandwiches at noon and Prim and I had eaten them hungrily. I realised that that was the first time I had properly eaten since Katniss' disappearance.

The phone on the table vibrates to life as Boggs' name appears on the screen. Prim and I share a quick glance before I reach out and answer the call, praying that he has only good news for us.

"Hello" my voice is shaky.

"Hi Peeta" I can only just hear his voice over the sounds of people yelling and sirens in the background.

"How did everything go? Is she alright?" I ask quickly.

"Well we got both her and Rue out." Rue must be the other little girl who was taken.

"Is Katniss okay?"

"She was unconscious when we got to her. She is currently having her vitals checked at will be on her way to the hospital as soon as possible" he explains.

I try to control my breathing, she isn't gone yet. She still has a chance. "Ok how is everything else down there?" I say after hearing all the shouts and loud noises.

"Oh it's hectic here. The media are trying to interfere but the security guards are trying to hold them back. Anyway I have to go. You can meet us down at the hospital."

"Ok, I guess I'll see you down there then" I say as we hang up. I turn to Prim "we're going to the hospital." She nods and follows me out to Annie and finnick's car, I really have to save up enough money for one of these. We get to the hospital in five minutes and when I check in at the reception desk; they inform me that Katniss hasn't arrived yet but there is an alert which came through, saying that they are on their way.

It's not ten minutes later when an alert sounds behind the desk, signalling the arrival of a new patient. I know they won't let me see her straight away but I have to internally fight hard to not jump out of my seat and rush down the hallway. However as time slowly progresses I decide I can't wait any longer.

"Come on Prim, we're going to see what's going on" I say as I motion for her to follow me.

"Um what room is Katniss Everdeen in?" I ask the lady behind the front desk. She looks it up on her computer and then gives me directions down the hall to room number 406. When we get close I see that there are a few people crowded outside the room, Boggs included. I go up to him.

"Hey what's going on?" I ask "can I go see Katniss?"

"I'm sorry Peeta, they are only letting immediate family see her for the minute. I think they were only going to let other people go in after she wakes up."

"What?! But Prim is the the only immediate family she has! Please Boggs I need to see her" I beg.

"I'm sorry Peeta but I can't change the decisions of the doctors."

"Do you at least know how long it will be until she wakes up?" I ask desperately.

"They don't know for sure, but they said it shouldn't be too long. They just need to get her healthy and her body working again properly." I nod shakily trying to remind myself to accept it, there's nothing else I can do.

I take a seat on one of the chairs next to the door while Boggs leads Prim in to see Katniss. I stare at the wall idly, wondering how I got here. From Peeta the school teacher with no love in his life, to Peeta the guy who is currently not showing up to work while his girlfriend is is hospital.

Prim comes out with a few tears on her cheeks, she sits demon next to me and I don't question her. I know by the look on her face that she doesn't want to talk right now. I reach out and brush some hair from her face, just to remind her that i'm here and I care about her, as she rests her head on my shoulder.

The next few days are tough. I spend most of my time at the hospital, just waiting for Katniss to wake up. Finally, four days after her arrival at the hospital, the doctors have allowed me to enter her room and see Katniss. I think they finally realised how much she means to me, and that I know she is going to be safe.

But now as I stand outside her door, I don't know if I can do this. This will be the first time seeing her since she was taken.

I push the door open and slowly make my way inside, the room is large, there is a mini living room over in the far corner with couches and a coffee table. I freeze when I see her. There she is, still as radiant and beautiful as ever. I make my way over to her and take her hand in mine, her fingers are cold, though not freezing. I clasp her hand tightly in mine, i'm never letting go of this girl again.

Slowly, I lean over and press a lingering kiss to her forehead. "Hey Katniss, I don't know if you can hear me or not. But I...I just wanted you to know I love you so much, and i'm so happy that your safe now. I'm so sorry, everything that happened was my fault. I should have gone to pick you up." I say through the tears which i'm trying desperately to blink out of my eyes.

I brush her hair back gently as I kiss her forehead again. "God I love you so much" I whisper as I lay my head down next to hers. I just wish she would wake up. And that's how I slowly fall asleep, with her hand in mine and my head next to hers on the pillow.

I wake up the next morning still next to Katniss. I sit up and rub my eyes tiredly before leaning down and kissing her cheek softly. I run my hand through her hair softly, "are you gonna wake up today? Please" I whisper.

The door opens and Prim comes in, followed by Boggs and a doctor. Prim immediately comes over to us and reaches down to kiss Katniss in the cheek.

"Peeta can we talk to you for a second?" I look over my shoulder to see Boggs and the doctor standing over near the couches. I make my way over to them and we all take a seat, Boggs and the doctor on one couch and me sitting opposite them on the other.

"Peeta, my name is Cinna and I'll be Katniss doctor while she is here in the hospital" the doctor says. "Now I understand that you and Katniss live together?" He asks. I nod my head in confirmation.

"Katniss is going to be a bit...unsteady on her feet for the next month or maybe even longer. She's been through a great ordeal the past week and a bit. You are going to need to support her in every way possible."

"I would never to anything else, I will always be there for her" I tell him.

"Ok, I just needed to warn you of how her emotions might play out after she wakes up" he explains.

"Ok, yes thank you Cinna, really." I say and he nods.

I look over at Katniss and see that she is still asleep. I feel my stomach growl and I decided to head down to the ground floor cafe and get something quick to eat. I slip out the door with a quick wave to Prim, letting her know where i'm going.

I am just about finished eating my standard sandwich and drink when I feel my phone ring in my pocket. I pull it out and frown when I see Prim's name. Why would she be calling me?

"Hello?" I answer.

"Peeta!" Prim breaths excitedly.

"Prim what is it?" I ask quickly, praying that what i'm thinking is right.

"It's Katniss, she's awake!"


	38. Chapter 38

**Its little , i know. Guys , i love you. You all safed me , made me love and hope again. I'll see you next time. And enjoy this fluffy moment here :)**

I don't bother to finish off my lunch, barely even saving the guy behind the counter a 'thank you' and 'goodbye.' I sprint down through the foyer to the elevator, pushing the number 5 several times; as though that would actually make the elevator go up to the floor faster. It doesn't help that it stops at three of the five levels to pick up people. I stand in the back, running my hands over my thighs nervously, trying to rub the sweat away.

Finally the elevator doors open at level five, I burst through the crowd of people trying to get on the elevator. There are people everywhere. Doctors and nurses flood the corridor when I turn the corner into the hall of Katniss' room.

"Is she awake?" I grab the arm of one of the doctors hurrying past.

"Yes she is" he confirms without stopping his quick walk down the hall, barely looking at me. But I don't mind. I don't think I have even a care at the moment. I finally get to see my Katniss. I hurry down the hall, making my way through the flurry of people rushing around.

"Peeta!" I hear Prim call out. I look past some of the nurses to see her standing outside the room. She looks happier than I have seen her in over two weeks, since Katniss has disappeared.

"Prim!" I call out running down the hall as she flings herself into my arms. I hear her cry into my shoulder and I hug her tightly.

"She's here Prim" I sigh "she's back."

Prim pulls out of my arms as she goes and up hugs Ellen, who I notice is sitting on the chairs outside the door with Finnick.

"Have you guys seen her yet?" I ask gesturing to the door.

"No, we thought you should see her first" Finnick says, I smile at him gratefully before turning and facing the door. Slowly I push it open. The first thing I notice is the constant beeping in the background. The quiet murmurs of voices. I shut the door behind me and look over across the room towards the bed. I can't see katniss, just the top of her hair as she sits up in the bed. The nurses are surrounding her as they check over her.

At the sound of the door closing they all turn and look towards me. "Peeta" one of the nurses says.

"Peeta?" I hear another voice. It sounds like Katniss, though it's so weak, so full of hope though. One of the nurses steps away from the bed and finally, I can see her.

"Peeta!" She calls out excitedly. I breath out quickly as I take her and everything in.

"Katniss" I whisper.

"Peeta!" She calls out again happily, as she rips the heart monitor off her wrists and jumps out of the bed. The machines go crazy, beeping loudly indicating that they can find no heartbeat.

I take a few quick steps towards her and then break out into a run for a few steps as she throws herself into my arms. I wrap my arms around her tightly and bury my face in her hair as she clings to me tightly, her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms around my neck.

"I missed you so much" I whisper as tears pool behind my eyes. She pulls back just enough to push her lips against mine insistently. I waste no time kissing her back as passionately as I can, pouring everything into it. I feel my heart start to beat fast, at being able to hold her and kiss her again. I have dreamed of this moment for over two weeks now; though it feels like forever. We break apart only for a moment to catch our breath before I reach forward at capture her lips again and again.

Finally I pull her to me in another tight hug, not wanting to let her go.

"I love you" Katniss murmurs and I can hear as her voice wavers that she's crying. "I should have told you earlier" she cries as she pulls back and I set her down on the ground, not unwrapping my arms from around her though.

"Don't worry about it" I whisper.

"No but I-"

I cut her off with another kiss. Her hands tighten in my hair and this time when I pull away, I know she needs to get back to her medical attention.

Right on cue, one of the nurses nervously calls out to Katniss.

"Um, i'm sorry to interrupt but, Miss Everdeen, you need to come back over so we can finish checking your vitals and keep a track of your heart rate."

Katniss nods shyly and walks over to the bed. It's only now when she starts to stumble and fall, I realise how weak she is. When she ran to me before; that must have been on pure adrenalin to reach me, that she didn't realise how unstable she is.

I dart forward quickly and catch her and she tumbles to the side. I wrap my arm around her waist and guide her back to the bed, helping her sit back again the pillows.

"Can you stay?" She asks, her voice is almost small.

"Always" I tell her softly as I take a seat next to her bed and hold her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over the back of her hand soothingly. When her eyes meet mine , she smiles. She knows it will be okay as long as we are together , because sometimes love is unconditionally.

 _ **The end**_


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